Avoid IP-based geo-location of street address. Combine with anti-fingerprinting. Avoid restrictions from non-network-neutral ISP.
Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
31–40 of 86 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#32Although I do not use VPN for any illegal purpose, I pay for it so that 1. My internet provider would not know which sites I am visiting. 2. My sites would not know what is my actual location. This prevents them from creating my profile and helps me protect my privacy. (I hope so). I have made a concious decision that I would rather trust a VPN like Mullvad than my internet provider or websites.
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Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#33The term “VPN” has become a bit overloaded. It can mean, among other things: 1) a corporate VPN you connect to in order to gain access to corporate resources. Cisco AnyConnect, OpenVPN, IPsec/L2TP are examples of this type. 2) An overlay network that allows seamless (and secure) access to systems on disparate networks. Wireguard (and thus Tailscale), ZeroTier are examples of this type. 3) A way for individuals to obs…
>Are there situations where using a VPN (#3) is warranted
Anonymity and therefore privacy. An ISP-assigned IP address reveals a lot of information about you. With a court order it can be traced back to you. Suppose a dissident wants to publish information adverse to the government, there's a situation.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#34My ISP quite openly says that they spy on your traffic to monetize it. This is violently unacceptable to me, so I do my best to deny them that data.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#35I moved from the Netherlands (where I was born) to Germany, and I mostly use my VPN to bypass the location block on video from Dutch public broadcasting. I even still pay taxes in the Netherlands (still work there), so I feel perfectly absolved from the little moral issue anyone might have with this.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#36My ISP quite openly says that they spy on your traffic to monetize it. This is violently unacceptable to me, so I do my best to deny them that data.
Dumb question, how can they spy on it if it’s https?
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#37> so it's obviously a lucrative vertical. I don't have direct exposure but this is a highly commoditized industry with tons of competition. I imagine profits are razor thin for most providers.
You could rent two 5 dollar droplets for the price of vpn service. There is a reason why so many providers exist. The costs to operate are profitable.. but throw in advertising trying to beat nordvpn and millions get spent.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#38My ISP quite openly says that they spy on your traffic to monetize it. This is violently unacceptable to me, so I do my best to deny them that data.
Dumb question, how can they spy on it if it’s https?
HTTPS only protects the payload. The IP addresses of src/dst are still unencrypted. And DNS is also unencrypted (though if "dns over https" catches on, that might change in the future).
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#39My ISP quite openly says that they spy on your traffic to monetize it. This is violently unacceptable to me, so I do my best to deny them that data.
Dumb question, how can they spy on it if it’s https?
Https encrypts the content not the destination. Your isp still needs to send your request to the server. Further there are also DNS requests.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you use a VPN?
#40My ISP quite openly says that they spy on your traffic to monetize it. This is violently unacceptable to me, so I do my best to deny them that data.
Dumb question, how can they spy on it if it’s https?
AFAIK The ISP still obtains and stores full urls, time stamps and log all http requests even if content is encrypted
In the uk they are legally required to store it for 12 months as well