Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 276 posts

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#101

Post by ReliantGuyZ »

moffkalast wrote: post #62
throw0101b wrote: post #14

This reminds me of the 'original' 2019 video by Tom Scott called "This Video Is Sponsored By [redacted] VPN" where he explains most of the reasons listed to use VPN by ads is useless: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVDQEoe6ZWY And then a few years later with "My robot double sells out (so I don't have to)" he did a follow-up listing useful reasons (geo-based content, better prices on vacation sites, etc) which was…

Isn't he now doing a lot of NordVPN ads himself in recent videos too? Turns out everyone has their price.

Yes he does now, though if I remember correctly he makes absolutely zero claims about privacy or security enhancements and focuses on the region-shifting capabilities (especially as a Brit who frequently travels abroad)

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#103

Post by yurishimo »

mig39 wrote: post #87
VonGuard wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They, and ALL VPN PROVIDERS, sell your DNS data, as well. That's the real business model.

Do you know for sure that Mullvad sells DNS data? They claim to not log anything, including DNS.

I don't believe Mullvad sells DNS data, largely in part to their much higher pricing model when compared to Nord/Express/et. al

Their FAQ confirms this, assuming you trust them. https://mullvad.net/en/help/no-logging-data-policy/#no-logs

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#104

Post by mtlmtlmtlmtl »

ramranch wrote: post #96
mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing shady about fleecing your customers ;) The fact they're in Panama suggests some kind of money laundering scheme to me at the very least.

Every VPN worth its salt is located in a similar country, as it's critical for a VPN to operate out of a jurisdiction that does not require log retention for a certain period of time nor cooperates with Five Eyes law enforcement.

They have a ridiculously high ad spend, ridiculously high prices, located in a tax haven, their advertising routinely makes false, exaggerated claims, they've been exposed as having logs even though they claim otherwise, and may or may not be running a botnet. Everything about this company screams money laundering scheme to me.

EDIT: I've realised my claims about logging were overblown. But I'm not so insecure as to edit it out so here's a disclaimer :)

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#105

Post by causi »

tenacious_tuna wrote: post #72
edgyquant wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been brought up before, Netflix does not work with a VPN on. It knows you’re using a VPN and blocks you (asks you to disable it.) Yes this is true even with NordVPN, which I bought specifically to be able to watch Netflix on when expressVPN didn’t work.

That is an exceptionally broad statement. I think it's probable that Netflix doesn't work with large-scale VPN providers because it's broadly easy to identify the traffic source. However, using a wireguard tunnel from my ipad back to my house, netflix works fine.

He obviously didn't mean to include people who are just tunneling back to their residential IP.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#106

Post by suddenclarity »

mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #71

NordVPN are far too aggressive about youtube marketing to not be sketchy imo. Open source client doesn't really help because whatever sketchy shit they're up to is probably mostly on the server side anyway. I wonder what their total youtube sponsor spot expenditure has been. It must be a ridiculous amount of money.

LTT had a segment about VPN on their WAN show. They ran the numbers and figured out that you can basically print money by running a VPN service without doing anything sketchy. They even had the software up and running. However they decided to pull the plug for ethical reasons because they would basically have to protect their customers doing criminal things. Piracy they reckoned was a gray area but there's a lot of worse things going on online. So it's fully possible that NordVPN just got big enough to have a massive advertising budget.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#107

Post by _joel »

mig39 wrote: post #87
VonGuard wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They, and ALL VPN PROVIDERS, sell your DNS data, as well. That's the real business model.

Do you know for sure that Mullvad sells DNS data? They claim to not log anything, including DNS.

Yea, can even pay with brown envelope of cash. They're the MVP.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#108

Post by Lammy »

taftster wrote: post #91
VonGuard wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They, and ALL VPN PROVIDERS, sell your DNS data, as well. That's the real business model.

Shouldn't that just be ALL PROVIDERS in general? There's probably a few choice ISPs that maintain their dignity, but I wouldn't put it past Comcast, Verizon, and all the mobile providers out there.

Ask Joseph Nacchio what happens to providers who don’t play along https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Nacchio

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#109

Post by causi »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #84
DeathArrow wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this legal? What is someone else is doing illegal things using your IP?

It might be against your provider's terms of service, but it's hardly illegal. If someone else is doing illegal things on your IP address then you could blame the (users of the) service to avoid liability. Still you could find yourself targeted by a lawsuit. I wonder if Oxylabs' terms protect you in this case.

Most people wouldn't even know to ask.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#110

Post by causi »

throw0101b wrote: post #14

This reminds me of the 'original' 2019 video by Tom Scott called "This Video Is Sponsored By [redacted] VPN" where he explains most of the reasons listed to use VPN by ads is useless: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVDQEoe6ZWY And then a few years later with "My robot double sells out (so I don't have to)" he did a follow-up listing useful reasons (geo-based content, better prices on vacation sites, etc) which was…

he explains most of the reasons listed to use VPN by ads is useless

It's not like they can advertise the actual reason people pay for VPNs, which is piracy and other illegal activities.

Post reply on HN