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ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

reuters.com

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Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#11

Post by pjmlp »

elagost wrote: post #6
Raed667 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you want a VPN to unlock location based content?

Then either do without (because, come on, nobody's gonna die if they can't watch reality TV), buy it on disc, or pirate it? Netflix is blocking IP ranges so hard that residential space is getting caught in the blast radius. It's a cat and mouse game that you'll only win by refusing to play. https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-intensifies-vpn-ban-and-tar...

Some of us would like to get home country news besides the quite poor international channels, it is not always about Netflix.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#12

Post by hannob »

Raed667 wrote: post #3
elagost wrote: post #2

It's been clear for a long time that every single commercial VPN service is a waste of money. At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook. If you think you want a VPN for "privacy", use Tor Browser. If you want a VPN for any other reason that "normal people" think they want a VPN…

What if you want a VPN to unlock location based content?

Circumventing geoblocking is legit, but don't tell people that VPNs are about "security".

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#14

Post by z3c0 »

lol123456789 wrote: post #4
elagost wrote: post #2

It's been clear for a long time that every single commercial VPN service is a waste of money. At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook. If you think you want a VPN for "privacy", use Tor Browser. If you want a VPN for any other reason that "normal people" think they want a VPN…

idk mullvad seems pretty alright

It is - they know their market and they serve them well. One of the few VPNs that actually don't log traffic.

That said, I've had websites flat-out refuse me because of using Mullvad (not just because it's a VPN, but a supposedly "disreputable" VPN). Meaning blackhats love it. Meaning it works.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#15

Post by young_unixer »

elagost wrote: post #2

It's been clear for a long time that every single commercial VPN service is a waste of money. At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook. If you think you want a VPN for "privacy", use Tor Browser. If you want a VPN for any other reason that "normal people" think they want a VPN…

> At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook.

My ISP is required by law to be an informant for government agencies, so the VPN can only be equal or better than my ISP.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#16

Post by onli »

elagost wrote: post #6
Raed667 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you want a VPN to unlock location based content?

Then either do without (because, come on, nobody's gonna die if they can't watch reality TV), buy it on disc, or pirate it? Netflix is blocking IP ranges so hard that residential space is getting caught in the blast radius. It's a cat and mouse game that you'll only win by refusing to play. https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-intensifies-vpn-ban-and-tar...

To pirate it you need a VPN, in countries that have a surveilled internet and laws that enable suing file sharers. Germany for example.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#17

Post by angelzen »

elagost wrote: post #2

It's been clear for a long time that every single commercial VPN service is a waste of money. At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook. If you think you want a VPN for "privacy", use Tor Browser. If you want a VPN for any other reason that "normal people" think they want a VPN…

To make it slightly more expensive for the adtech industry to spy on all my internet traffic. I have little illusions that any tech measure whatsoever can thwart government entities.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#18

Post by elagost »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #5
elagost wrote: post #2

It's been clear for a long time that every single commercial VPN service is a waste of money. At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook. If you think you want a VPN for "privacy", use Tor Browser. If you want a VPN for any other reason that "normal people" think they want a VPN…

It's far from a waste of money. They help with things such as skipping geoblocking, able to deceive ISPs that send mail warning users about pirated content, can in some cases help with gaming ping, allow users to trick sites that rely on IP logging and many other applications besides cybersecurity and privacy. The main issue is that they all seem to advertise themselves as these privacy and cybersecurity services fir…

Browser fingerprinting works much better than checking IPs. With multiple devices being behind the same IP, it's necessary to distinguish between users.

I'm not saying VPNs are worthless - I'm on one right now for work. Commercial VPNs, for most people who purchase them, are completely worthless.

And I very much doubt that tunneling your connection through a VPN can improve ping.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#19

Post by cowpig »

Making someone with a history of doing exactly the thing that a company purportedly stands against the CTO seems like an absolutely baffling choice... unless the company is doing that thing (enabling surveillance).

If I were to use a VPN service, this news would certainly disqualify ExpressVPN from my list of possible options.

I imagine that if I were working for a company like that out of belief in the mission that this news would be difficult.

Re: ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

#20

Post by dangerface »

elagost wrote: post #2

It's been clear for a long time that every single commercial VPN service is a waste of money. At best, you replace trusting your ISP with trusting a different group of unknown people with similar motivations. At worst, it's a government agency honeypot or someone like Facebook. If you think you want a VPN for "privacy", use Tor Browser. If you want a VPN for any other reason that "normal people" think they want a VPN…

You are right that most people are just signing up with the same credit card and details as their isp and even if they claim they don't keep logs the vpn needs to link the use of their service to your details for billing just like your isp.

That said if you live in the UK the government logs your internet history to be used against you at their convenience. Using a vpn like mullvad.net that you can buy with bitcoin and no details prevents the government logging my history, thats worth the £5 a month.

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