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When did the world start trusting any company with a VPN more than their ISP? I still find the privacy pitch to be flakey at best, where at least I can choose w
by graypegg 4y ago
When did the world start trusting any company with a VPN more than their ISP? I still find the privacy pitch to be flakey at best, where at least I can choose who’s aware of my traffic, but getting past geo-blocks really seems to be the most obvious consumer value, which this Cloudflare vpn lacks.
- zapataband1 4y agoI thought it was when all the ISPs started basically giving away your private info to the government and repeatedly lied about it
- hot_gril 4y agoIt can go either way. Many ISPs are known to be nasty, but hardly anyone sees the effects of that, so it's hard to tell. I think VPNs market "more security," people mostly blindly buy it, and everyone is happy. Yeah, to me, a VPN is only a way around geo restrictions.
- nvllsvm 4y agoFor some - it was when their ISP started sending their customers scary sounding letters regarding certain downloaded movies and shows. Some ISPs also needlessly block certain sites (ex. Verizon blocks nyaa.si)
- wintermutestwin 4y agoMy ISP actively lobbied to be able to harvest (steal) my data. Who do I trust more: the guy who says that they aren't selling my data, or the guy who corrupted my government so that they can actively sell me out (not to mention their monopoly)? Sure, the first guy could be a liar, but I know that the second guy is a thief. I don't care about geo-blocking - my only threat model is to keep a scumbag ISP at bay. Edit: I should add that keeping sites I browse from knowing my IP is also part of my threat model.
- MichaelCollins 4y agoVPN also has my credit card number, real name, etc. VPN doesn't have that; their data is worth less than the data my ISP could sell.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- account42 4y agoSeing how many webstes' TLS is terminated by Cloudflare, you shouldn't state that they don't have your credit card info with such conviction unless you never used it online.
- TheFattestNinja 4y agoISP injecting content into your connection is a known story (google "ISP injecting ads" for many results). For better or worse Microsoft (or other corps) have not done that in recent memory afaik. They might do equally dodgy stuff in other aspects, but they don't tamper with the integrity of your connection (they might sniff it a bit).
- account42 4y agoIt is only a known story in some countries. In others ISPs are held to much higher privacy standards than Cloudflare is.
- math_dandy 4y agoAnd often you're paying a nontrivial amount of money to the ISP for the "privilege" of getting injecting ads and tracking injected. This really rubs people the wrong way, justifiably so I think.
- seabrookmx 4y agoI swear VPN privacy is a red herring. Everyone I know who has a VPN subscription simply uses it to prevent DMCA letters from their ISP when torrenting. VPN providers with a "no logs" policy simply shrug these off.
- BuckRogers 4y agoI know people that use VPNs 24/7 just for privacy. I would assume there's many more that use them for the reason you described though. Torrents are less useful than ever, piracy is down in general thanks to streaming services and products having moved to SaaS. From what I can tell, the number of people using VPNs merely for privacy alone is growing and a good sign that people feel that strongly about it.
- aliqot 4y ago> torrents are less useful than ever ok I'll bite, let's hear it
- hot_gril 4y agoMedia piracy is less tempting than in 2006 (before streaming) but more tempting than in 2014 (before competition decreased overall and everyone started siloing content as part of their truce). Server-side control has been making software piracy less and less viable, video games sorta included. And a lot of mainstream games have found ways to make money without charging to buy the game upfront.
- LilBytes 4y agoMedia privacy might be less tempting, but it's been swinging in the other direction (of becoming valid again) for quite a few years.
- dizhn 4y agoArticle says the VPN gets activated in public networks. Wifi etc. That's one decent use case.
- NoGravitas 4y agoIt's not true of the whole world, but in the US, you generally know that your ISP is untrustworthy, while your VPN is a leap of faith.