Don't Use VPN Services
gist.github.com
Don't Use VPN Services
1–10 of 19 posts
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#2Thanks for making your case. I tried a VPN service for a while to see what it was like to surf the web "from another country." It was with a provider "you can trust," but ultimately who can you trust? And it wasn't worth the monthly charge.
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#3Kind of related, but I'm also getting wary of relying on small third parties building important binaries in my life (like a browser or mobile OS) I'm thinking that it's better to use what's mainstream and look for privacy with other means.
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#4Valid argument for using a VPN: you are better off being spied on by a government on the other side of the planet rather than your own.
Your own government can very easily do things to harm you, like throw you in prison or allow private actors to use tort/defamation/etc law to destroy you financially. A government on the other side of the planet - especially a country which doesn’t get along with your own - has far less motivation to do so. Your local ISP has to comply with local government and court orders - a VPN provider on the other side of the planet may have zero motivation for doing so. They’d have to comply with their own country’s orders, but their government/courts may lack the motivation to do that for your country’s government/courts
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#5If I need anonymity from the site I'm browsing, not from intermediaries, a glorified proxy is exactly what I want.
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#6Valid reasons to use a VPN:
- Circumvert geo-blocks, geo-available content, etc.
- Download torrents if you are in a jurisdiction which routinely goes against torrent-seeders.
- Visit US sites from Europe who chose to fire you instead of following GDPR.
- Skip GFW or its Russian equivalent.
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#7Valid argument for using a VPN: you are better off being spied on by a government on the other side of the planet rather than your own. Your own government can very easily do things to harm you, like throw you in prison or allow private actors to use tort/defamation/etc law to destroy you financially. A government on the other side of the planet - especially a country which doesn’t get along with your own - has far l…
Yep, that's my main motivator. Recently my country started getting cozy in bed with copyright enforcers that have very nervous fingers on the trigger. It's only a matter of short time before I need a VPN or even Tor to do something as innocent as reading a science paper.
I wish them luck chasing after their citizens connecting to local websites from Kazakhstan or Chile etc., heh.
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#8I use an SSH tunnel myself. It gives me much more control over the endpoint, and thus more control over my data.
Haven't had any issues at all. Works from everywhere, and arguably is less suspicious since more governments/ISPs/whoever are paying more attention to VPN traffic.
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#9Don't write articles with titles that completely ignore the nuance of a subject
Re: Don't Use VPN Services
#10Kind of related, but I'm also getting wary of relying on small third parties building important binaries in my life (like a browser or mobile OS) I'm thinking that it's better to use what's mainstream and look for privacy with other means.
I feel like Firefox threads this needle well.