Since there is so much criticism here of NordVPN (in general, not for open-sourcing), what are the VPNs that people like?
Freedome VPN by F-Secure
NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
111–120 of 276 posts
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't he now doing a lot of NordVPN ads himself in recent videos too? Turns out everyone has their price.
Thats not selling out. If he keeps the old video up and doesn't make the claim that NordVPN does things it doesn't actually do, then he's just advertising. There are legitimate uses for VPNs, they're just not the reasons these VPNs advertise (the the parent comment says).
He‘s still selling his advertisement time to a company that employs shady business tactics?
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#113Earlier 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.
Mullvad does not log anything and it makes sense. You can literally pay with an envelope of cash and you will receive a single Account ID to activate your VPN. You don't even provide any personal details.
Mullvad is the best privacy-focused VPN, hands down.
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#114Reminder that it looks like NordVPN does shady stuff: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29285988 Allegedly, they are using their customers as botnets to resell traffic from residential IPs, mostly for scraping, through their other business "Oxylabs".
They, and ALL VPN PROVIDERS, sell your DNS data, as well. That's the real business model.
I think it is a risk that peole should be aware of / understand.
But I don't buy into the idea that anyone can say "ALL VPN PROVIDERS" do a thing.
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#115The fact that NordVPN needs its own library should already be seen as a red flag. If you need a VPN at all (which you usually don't) then you should use something that works with widely used and tested protocols. That was historically ipsec or openvpn (both not ideal), these days wireguard is probably a better choice.
That's all apart from the fact that most reasons advertised by companies like NordVPN why you need a VPN are bogus or outdated, and that the trustworthiness of a VPN only relies in small parts on the client they use.
(Update: skimming through the code it seems they somehow use openvpn. Not entirely sure if this invalidates my point, but then the question is: Why do they need their own client at all?)
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#116Since there is so much criticism here of NordVPN (in general, not for open-sourcing), what are the VPNs that people like?
Mullvad is excellent. No email required, all sorts of payment options including cash in an envelope. Can even get gift cards now.
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#117Reminder that it looks like NordVPN does shady stuff: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29285988 Allegedly, they are using their customers as botnets to resell traffic from residential IPs, mostly for scraping, through their other business "Oxylabs".
I hear there's a dirty secret that more and more companies are doing this to make things like Netflix that block VPNs "just work" though their services. Not sure how true this is or how widespread, though.
I ran into a situation where I left a VPN on my phone on and the Target app (US store Target) would pop up an alert "true".
I assume someone was detecting if you were using a VPN and testing and it somehow made it into production. I emailed them and never heard back.
Granted ... I get why a retailer with financial activity going on might want to know if a VPN was used to possibly apply extra scrutiny to the purchase.
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
To my knowledge, nordvpn is independently audited on its no log claims. Can you provide a source for what you said regarding logs?
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
I was under the impression that VPN services were very profitable on their own, without selling data. Is this really a price thing, or is it a shady greed thing?
Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced
#120why do they spend so much money on ads? seems like more budget than could be explained via sales to civilians
I have always wondered about these providers. Their margins must be amazing considering they can justify this amount of influencer marketing. Or is there also big amount of VC money they are still burning through? Usually the offers in addition have pretty good discounts from original price.
I wish I had a source, but I've heard guesses as high as 90% profit for most VPN subscriptions. Especially overloaded and bloated garbage VPNs. Most people don't know they're being throttled by the VPN if they only use it to watch Netflix.