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VPNs on iOS are a scam

michaelhorowitz.com

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Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#141

Post by anyfoo »

Maursault wrote: post #137
anyfoo wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The P in WPA stands for Protection, the P in WEP stands for Privacy, the P in VPN stands for Private. Private and privacy don't have the same meaning, and one does not imply the other. I've cited an RFC from 1999 (RFC2547) in another reply to you that strongly suggests (to my reading, at least) that privacy was not necessarily implied in the notion of "private" (although of course a VPN could provide privacy). "Priva…

> Private and privacy don't have the same meaning, and one does not imply the other. These two words have the same root and etymology. The adjective "private" is transformed into a noun using the abstract noun suffix, "cy," to become "privacy." These two words have the same word root dressed as different parts of speech.

Of course they have the same root and etymology. Of course they do not have the same meaning, look them up in the dictionary. A private parking spot is not a privacy parking spot.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#142

Post by ratata »

jart wrote: post #33
Youden wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue in the article isn't that the VPN is sometimes inactive, it's that when the VPN is active, some traffic escapes the VPN. As far as I can see the linked page doesn't say that your VPN will leak unless you're using Always On. Plus, that page documents the VPN features built in to iOS itself, not VPNs provided by apps.

The ProtonMail article said it only applies to pre-existing connections, because iOS doesn't force them to close when an app enables its VPN. I'd be reluctant to call that a leak, unless it contradicts Apple's documented behaviors, which as far as I can tell make no mention of a systemwide VPN except for corporate "always on" ones. Besides, is there any reason why you can't just toggle airplane after enabling a consu…

According to the author, IOS makes new connections outside of the tunnel after the VPN was enable. There is no effective workaround.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#143

Post by Shared404 »

autoexec wrote: post #75
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> VPNs were always meant to carry internal traffic to a private network, not the public internet This. And the idea that these so called ‘VPN’ services somehow improve your security and privacy on the internet is laughable. All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. The internet is just as untrustworthy through a VPN service as it is through…

> All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. Not true, at all. There are several good reasons to use VPNs to get a different on-ramp to the otherwise untrusted internet. - Avoid ISP tracking: Your ISP should see only traffic to and from the VPN. - Access content intended for those in other regions: Many sites and services only show certain c…

Thank you for saving me the typing.

No it's not gonna make you an invisible unhackable ghost, but at least I don't have to worry about my ISP screwing me over.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#144

Post by [deleted] »

codedokode wrote: post #29
xoa wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope Wireguard makes it into iOS/macOS at some point. Still early days relative to other protocols of course but it's so much simpler and more reliable (even beyond the security benefits). I use it extensively on both platforms for access to my own networks and services nowadays.

Quoted post unavailable.

[deleted]

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#145

Post by dcow »

I wonder if the author tried using an On Demand VPN rule for the default route. That's always what I've done when setting this stuff up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't need a device management profile to enable an on-demand VPN for all traffic. Then, reboot your phone and all application traffic, or traffic that isn't something system (APNS) or management/link-local (dhcp, mdns, etc.) will use the tunnel.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#146

Post by raverbashing »

autoexec wrote: post #75
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> VPNs were always meant to carry internal traffic to a private network, not the public internet This. And the idea that these so called ‘VPN’ services somehow improve your security and privacy on the internet is laughable. All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. The internet is just as untrustworthy through a VPN service as it is through…

> All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. Not true, at all. There are several good reasons to use VPNs to get a different on-ramp to the otherwise untrusted internet. - Avoid ISP tracking: Your ISP should see only traffic to and from the VPN. - Access content intended for those in other regions: Many sites and services only show certain c…

You just replaced ISP tracking with VPN tracking

And your "VPN in YouTube ads" surely does that

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#148

Post by peeters »

raverbashing wrote: post #146
autoexec wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. Not true, at all. There are several good reasons to use VPNs to get a different on-ramp to the otherwise untrusted internet. - Avoid ISP tracking: Your ISP should see only traffic to and from the VPN. - Access content intended for those in other regions: Many sites and services only show certain c…

You just replaced ISP tracking with VPN tracking And your "VPN in YouTube ads" surely does that

Most people who use VPNs for privacy will readily admit that their use is based on relative trust. They know that ISPs are notorious for harvesting and granting access to browsing data, and they trust that their reputable VPN provider of choice is truthful about their logging and internal data handling policies.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#149

Post by jurip »

raverbashing wrote: post #146
autoexec wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. Not true, at all. There are several good reasons to use VPNs to get a different on-ramp to the otherwise untrusted internet. - Avoid ISP tracking: Your ISP should see only traffic to and from the VPN. - Access content intended for those in other regions: Many sites and services only show certain c…

You just replaced ISP tracking with VPN tracking And your "VPN in YouTube ads" surely does that

There are levels to trustworthiness. I mostly trust my ISP enough to not bother with VPN at home, but when I'm traveling I'll take my VPN provider over a hotel WiFi any day.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#150

Post by dahfizz »

raverbashing wrote: post #146
autoexec wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All they do is let you get onto the public, untrusted, internet through a different on-ramp. There is no point to them. Not true, at all. There are several good reasons to use VPNs to get a different on-ramp to the otherwise untrusted internet. - Avoid ISP tracking: Your ISP should see only traffic to and from the VPN. - Access content intended for those in other regions: Many sites and services only show certain c…

You just replaced ISP tracking with VPN tracking And your "VPN in YouTube ads" surely does that

> You just replaced ISP tracking with VPN tracking.

Yeah, that's the point. People have infinitely more choices for VPN providers than for ISPs. The VPN provider could be in another country. You can even run your own VPN on hosted infra.

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