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VPNs on iOS are a scam

michaelhorowitz.com

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Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#231

Post by giobox »

autoexec wrote: post #100
giobox wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use this setup to get mobile adblock while on Verizon (iOS sadly has never let you override the default DNS server for cellular, just wifi). It works more or less perfectly, albeit with a noticeable hit to device battery life... so much so my wife who otherwise loves PiHole on the home network refuses to use it on her iPhone. Using iOS's built in support for browser adblockers is largely as effective and doesn't co…

Does the built in blocker block ads outside of the browser though?

No, that is one advantage of the PiHole/Tailscale setup, although PiHole wont prevent ads particularly well if at all in major apps like Twitter/FB/youtube etc.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#232

Post by lupire »

The real lesson is here:

> I am not a fan of making a VPN connection on your only router, but suggest having a second router dedicated to VPN connections. When you need a VPN, connect to the second router (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), when you don't need a VPN, connect to your main router.

Aka, don't use a device with two network sockets if it is critically important to avoid using one of them.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#233

Post by d_theorist »

VPNs in general are a scam.

To be clear, I mean the big VPNs that advertise themselves as helping with privacy are actually a scam.

There are obviously some situations and use-cases where using a VPN makes sense (e.g. geo-shifting), but as a general solution for privacy on the internet they make no sense.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#234

Post by Maursault »

anyfoo wrote: post #141
Maursault wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They are strongly associated, and the definitions are related. One can not have a private conversation without privacy, and when seeking privacy it is exclusively to do something in private. Contrary to previous claims, one implies the other.

The argument that privacy doesn't mean private, and vice versa, in regards to the meaning any of the letters in acronyms is specious, such as, the word private in VPN does not mean that you will have privacy, because, in fact, any transfer of data between the VPN nodes will be kept private from the Internet at large, thus the transfer is in privacy.

The fallacy you and OP committed (if you are not OP, didn't check) is known as the appeal to definition.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#235

Post by beeboop »

d_theorist wrote: post #233

VPNs in general are a scam. To be clear, I mean the big VPNs that advertise themselves as helping with privacy are actually a scam. There are obviously some situations and use-cases where using a VPN makes sense (e.g. geo-shifting), but as a general solution for privacy on the internet they make no sense.

Until browsers become more fingerprint resistant, there is zero privacy online. Firefox is making good strides but even with all settings turned to the max (including the about:config settings for fingerprint resisting) it is still able to be fingerprinted by the tools online used to check for this.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#236

Post by jrm4 »

_8j50 wrote: post #225
jrm4 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nord et. al. Yes, they should have been calling themselves "anonymous proxies," but either way, that's the service they promise.

They are not proxies because they don't well... proxy your request as in make a second connection on your behalf which is what proxy means. Those VPN services are the equivalent of moving your ISP gateway to someone's datacenter somewhere . They are internet gateway VPNs. I see no deception or nothing misleading about the service they provide. The fact that you need to trust them more than your ISP and country's netw…

I fully understand everything you're saying and you have very good technical points, but (and I would draw this out to a LOT of things in IT) these aren't taken away by MOST USERS. Most users, who are novices in tech, read the "label" of the VPN and presume that they are covered, when we know they are not.

SOMEONE should be punished for this because it's effectively a lie. This is the only way we will actually improve the bad situation you're talking about.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#238

Post by autoexec »

thayne wrote: post #228
autoexec wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the end you have to trust someone or you might as well just stay offline forever. In the US, very few people have much choice in their ISP. If you are lucky you might have more than two options. Many ISPs are known to be untrustworthy. They outright state they will mine your internet history and sell it. If I have the choice between an ISP who I know will sell my browsing history and a VPN which might, but claims…

They also state they can and will shut down your service for copyright infringement.

If ISPs don't shut down people's accounts they'll get sued for billions in fines. There are still open court cases against multiple ISPs for not cutting enough people off from the internet. So far, courts have agreed with the RIAA/MPA who paid good money for the laws we have.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#239

Post by anyfoo »

Maursault wrote: post #234
anyfoo wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They are strongly associated, and the definitions are related. One can not have a private conversation without privacy, and when seeking privacy it is exclusively to do something in private. Contrary to previous claims, one implies the other. The argument that privacy doesn't mean private, and vice versa , in regards to the meaning any of the letters in acronyms is specious, such as, the word private in VPN does not…

> One can not have a private conversation without privacy, and when seeking privacy it is exclusively to do something in private.

One can have a private parking spot without privacy, though. Or a private pilot license.

> any transfer of data between the VPN nodes will be kept private from the Internet at large, thus the transfer is in privacy

Not if your VPN is not encrypted, which exists, although it isn't very common anymore, for obvious reasons.

The IP address "10.1.1.1" is still part of IANA's private IP address space, no matter whether it is transported in a way (say using an unecrypted tunnel over the public Internet) that provides privacy or not.

Re: VPNs on iOS are a scam

#240

Post by mccorrinall »

nyolfen wrote: post #221
mccorrinall wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use perfect privacy and they provide IPSec configs for iOS. Their guide even makes note to enable on-demand to prevent leaks. Also, just checked Mullvad, which seems to open an IPSec server on your local device and then install a vpn config on your ios device. From the local IPSec server a connection is made to mullvad via wireguard. On-demand is also enabled by default. But yea, VPN were initially targeted at ente…

what is the point of wrapping wireguard with ipsec? bet-hedging?

iOS has no native wireguard support
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