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I am so very confused with the recent ubiquity of VPN. I understand VPN. What happened that everyone needs or is at least being convinced they need VPN? Why has

I am so very confused with the recent ubiquity of VPN. I understand VPN. What happened that everyone needs or is at least being convinced they need VPN? Why has it become a product worth being marketed to consumers on every channel? Is this a bubble? Is it a money laundering scheme? Seriously, what is going on?

ElectronShak 5y ago
Accessing geo-restricted content is probably one of the reasons. A lot of VPN services use this line while advertising.
- Hamuko 5y ago
  Accessing geo-restricted content is a minority of the VPN advertising that I come across. Most of the VPN marketing I see is a combination of "security and privacy", "online banking", "hackers", "private data", "snooping ISPs".
  - btkramer9 5y ago
    I've always thought it was like a smoke shop. They say their products are for tobacco but everyone knows what its really for. Same with VPN, they say it's for all those things above but accessing geo-restricted content seems like the real reason.
    - Hamuko 5y ago
      Well, if I see a list of "good privacy-focused VPNs" on like TorrentFreak, then I'm pretty sure that they mean "these VPNs are good to route your torrent traffic through". But I do actually doubt that people watching a video on YouTube are going to get the "watch Japanese Netflix on ButtVPN" subtext when the advertising blurp is "ButtVPN protects your online banking against hackers". It's not like it's actually illegally to promote a VPN for bypassing geoblocking, so if that was the main driver of customers, they'd really use it a lot more often.
      - input_sh 5y ago
        They can't promise that because companies like Netflix constantly blacklist their IPs. They can make a general statement like "view geolocked content", but being specific and then not delivering will lead to a lot of resentment from new users. Well it's either that or make every user an endpoint to go around the IP blacklist like that one provider did, but I can't remember which one.
        Hamuko 5y ago
        They can't promise that but will explicitly advertise their VPN to work with Netflix. https://www.expressvpn.com/vpn-service#streaming https://www.expressvpn.com/vpn-service#streaming
  - Philip-J-Fry 5y ago
    They won't advertise that they can access geo-restricted content like Netflix because Netflix is constantly cracking down on VPN providers and blacklisting IPs. But it's definitely one of the bigger use cases.
ccn0p 5y ago
It seems to me that, at least speaking for the US, there is a massive demographic that is becoming increasingly skeptical and weary of "big tech", and VPN companies have targeted this demographic with panacea solutions to stop big tech's ability to track you, etc etc. ExpressVPN has been all over the air waves in conservative radio. Although I don't mind people practicing safe hygiene, little do they know a VPN has very little to do with big techs ability to actually vacuum up data about them.
- ccn0p 5y ago
  also... the VPN seems to be the modern day antivirus of personal security.
nlitened 5y ago
For someone living in Russia, having a VPN is essential for browsing if you want uninterrupted access to all international websites at full speed. And I think that number of countries with internet restrictions is growing, not shrinking.
InvaderFizz 5y ago
There are quite a few overlapping targets for VPNs: - People that use Torrents - People that travel (geo-restricted content, country level blocking of services/sites) - Local firewalls that block things for no good reason. - People that think a VPN keeps them safe from "bad guys". I recently engaged in some infrastructure consulting work for a small startup(10 people). They're 100% distributed, no office, everything operates out of Google Drive, Docs, and Gmail. One of the first questions they asked was if they need a VPN to keep their corporate communications and file transfers secure.
Philip-J-Fry 5y ago
Bypassing country firewalls. Accessing Netflix content from other countries. Protecting yourself when torrenting. It's also sold using the same scare tactics that Anti-Virus is sold. By making people think their connections are insecure unless they use a VPN. So it pulls in a lot of the less tech savvy people who will most likely just use it for Netflix and further encrypting their traffic. I don't think it's a bubble because countries are trying to implement all these weird laws and monitor the internet more and more. The UK for example wanted to introduce identity checks for consuming Porn. They can't do that when you can VPN to some other country.
- mbesto 5y ago
  > Accessing Netflix content from other countries. Are there any VPN services that actually do this? AFAIK all of them get blocked (i.e. they are known IPs). I've even tried to spin up a Digital Ocean server to route my traffic and Netflix blocked it.
  - penagwin 5y ago
    Yes! However it gets a bit complex, as they're using dns based geofencing so there's some extra steps.
    - mbesto 5y ago
      Can you expand? Which VPN allows you to get Netflix to another geolocation.
      - ekelsen 5y ago
        ExpressVPN works for me. Can get netflix US in the UK and vice versa. Also Disney+, BBC and Amazon Prime. Works for all the streaming services I've tried tbh.
        bozhark 5y ago
        The irony
switch007 5y ago
Where to begin. I don’t trust my ISP not to interfere with my packets. In the UK, things like google and imgur get proxied through a centralised filtering engine, ISPs hijack your dns, throttle your traffic based on your activity, blacklist sites using DNS. Who knows what they’ll record for the government and the retroactive laws they may pass?
vmception 5y ago
Since GDPR in 2018, simply reading the news requires a VPN. Many other benign aspects of life need it too, if the same conveniences are desired with no adjustment. It's nice if you haven't noticed.
sophacles 5y ago
I set my DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1. When nxdomains resulted in me landing on some page from my ISP, I started using a VPN. I'm perfectly fine with my ISP snooping my traffic IFF all they get is gibberish.
Corinthian 5y ago
For me, I need it to actually pay taxes on my US properties from abroad. Many US tax authorities inexplicably block foreign traffic. Several paid services I use don't allow payments unless the card and the IP address are from the same country. But by and large I agree, most people are duped into believing it's somehow more secure.
TingPing 5y ago
Its a high margin subscription service, invest in ads and it prints money.

ElectronShak 5y ago

Accessing geo-restricted content is probably one of the reasons. A lot of VPN services use this line while advertising.

Hamuko 5y ago
Accessing geo-restricted content is a minority of the VPN advertising that I come across. Most of the VPN marketing I see is a combination of "security and privacy", "online banking", "hackers", "private data", "snooping ISPs".
- btkramer9 5y ago
  I've always thought it was like a smoke shop. They say their products are for tobacco but everyone knows what its really for. Same with VPN, they say it's for all those things above but accessing geo-restricted content seems like the real reason.
  - Hamuko 5y ago
    Well, if I see a list of "good privacy-focused VPNs" on like TorrentFreak, then I'm pretty sure that they mean "these VPNs are good to route your torrent traffic through". But I do actually doubt that people watching a video on YouTube are going to get the "watch Japanese Netflix on ButtVPN" subtext when the advertising blurp is "ButtVPN protects your online banking against hackers". It's not like it's actually illegally to promote a VPN for bypassing geoblocking, so if that was the main driver of customers, they'd really use it a lot more often.
    - input_sh 5y ago
      They can't promise that because companies like Netflix constantly blacklist their IPs. They can make a general statement like "view geolocked content", but being specific and then not delivering will lead to a lot of resentment from new users. Well it's either that or make every user an endpoint to go around the IP blacklist like that one provider did, but I can't remember which one.
      - Hamuko 5y ago
        They can't promise that but will explicitly advertise their VPN to work with Netflix. https://www.expressvpn.com/vpn-service#streaming https://www.expressvpn.com/vpn-service#streaming
- Philip-J-Fry 5y ago
  They won't advertise that they can access geo-restricted content like Netflix because Netflix is constantly cracking down on VPN providers and blacklisting IPs. But it's definitely one of the bigger use cases.

ccn0p 5y ago

It seems to me that, at least speaking for the US, there is a massive demographic that is becoming increasingly skeptical and weary of "big tech", and VPN companies have targeted this demographic with panacea solutions to stop big tech's ability to track you, etc etc. ExpressVPN has been all over the air waves in conservative radio. Although I don't mind people practicing safe hygiene, little do they know a VPN has very little to do with big techs ability to actually vacuum up data about them.

ccn0p 5y ago
also... the VPN seems to be the modern day antivirus of personal security.

nlitened 5y ago

For someone living in Russia, having a VPN is essential for browsing if you want uninterrupted access to all international websites at full speed. And I think that number of countries with internet restrictions is growing, not shrinking.

InvaderFizz 5y ago

There are quite a few overlapping targets for VPNs: - People that use Torrents - People that travel (geo-restricted content, country level blocking of services/sites) - Local firewalls that block things for no good reason. - People that think a VPN keeps them safe from "bad guys". I recently engaged in some infrastructure consulting work for a small startup(10 people). They're 100% distributed, no office, everything operates out of Google Drive, Docs, and Gmail. One of the first questions they asked was if they need a VPN to keep their corporate communications and file transfers secure.

Philip-J-Fry 5y ago

Bypassing country firewalls. Accessing Netflix content from other countries. Protecting yourself when torrenting. It's also sold using the same scare tactics that Anti-Virus is sold. By making people think their connections are insecure unless they use a VPN. So it pulls in a lot of the less tech savvy people who will most likely just use it for Netflix and further encrypting their traffic. I don't think it's a bubble because countries are trying to implement all these weird laws and monitor the internet more and more. The UK for example wanted to introduce identity checks for consuming Porn. They can't do that when you can VPN to some other country.

mbesto 5y ago
> Accessing Netflix content from other countries. Are there any VPN services that actually do this? AFAIK all of them get blocked (i.e. they are known IPs). I've even tried to spin up a Digital Ocean server to route my traffic and Netflix blocked it.
- penagwin 5y ago
  Yes! However it gets a bit complex, as they're using dns based geofencing so there's some extra steps.
  - mbesto 5y ago
    Can you expand? Which VPN allows you to get Netflix to another geolocation.
    - ekelsen 5y ago
      ExpressVPN works for me. Can get netflix US in the UK and vice versa. Also Disney+, BBC and Amazon Prime. Works for all the streaming services I've tried tbh.
      - bozhark 5y ago
        The irony

switch007 5y ago

Where to begin. I don’t trust my ISP not to interfere with my packets. In the UK, things like google and imgur get proxied through a centralised filtering engine, ISPs hijack your dns, throttle your traffic based on your activity, blacklist sites using DNS. Who knows what they’ll record for the government and the retroactive laws they may pass?

vmception 5y ago

Since GDPR in 2018, simply reading the news requires a VPN. Many other benign aspects of life need it too, if the same conveniences are desired with no adjustment. It's nice if you haven't noticed.

sophacles 5y ago

I set my DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1. When nxdomains resulted in me landing on some page from my ISP, I started using a VPN. I'm perfectly fine with my ISP snooping my traffic IFF all they get is gibberish.

Corinthian 5y ago

For me, I need it to actually pay taxes on my US properties from abroad. Many US tax authorities inexplicably block foreign traffic. Several paid services I use don't allow payments unless the card and the IP address are from the same country. But by and large I agree, most people are duped into believing it's somehow more secure.

TingPing 5y ago

Its a high margin subscription service, invest in ads and it prints money.