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NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

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Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#141

Post by entropyneur »

VonGuard wrote: post #82
acatton wrote: post #7

Reminder 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 owned a small VPN provider. We never did or considered doing that. So your statement is definitely false. But I also doubt that it's even approximately correct. Even assuming the worst of most VPN providers, I'd be very, very surprised if that could be a viable business model. Your DNS data isn't even remotely valuable enough to justify user acquisition and bandwidth/servers cost.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#142

Post by amelius »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #139
amelius wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They still offer OpenVPN connections ...

Is offering a service somehow a problem? Especially the most prominent method of VPN connections for a long time? Most routers and other clients that aren’t updated very frequently still only support OVPN. They also offer WG connections if OVPN bothers you so much.

I'm not bothered by OVPN, on the contrary!

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#143

Post by MagicMoonlight »

TecoAndJix wrote: post #49
acatton wrote: post #7

Reminder 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".

Digging into this on oxylabs site i found this document: https://oxylabs.io/Oxylabs_Residential_Proxy_Acquisition_Han... "Consenting and fully aware individuals become a part of a residential proxy network in return for a financial reward or some other benefit. When they choose to participate in our suppliers’ pools, they consent that a part of their internet traffic and a small amount of the device’s hardware resour…

That sounds like a terrible deal for the user.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#145

Post by VonGuard »

entropyneur wrote: post #141
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.

I owned a small VPN provider. We never did or considered doing that. So your statement is definitely false. But I also doubt that it's even approximately correct. Even assuming the worst of most VPN providers, I'd be very, very surprised if that could be a viable business model. Your DNS data isn't even remotely valuable enough to justify user acquisition and bandwidth/servers cost.

OpenDNS built a business around this model: use our DNS servers and we sell the DNS hits to third parties looking to track traffic. I worked at a company that bought this data and resold it. Maybe the little VPN providers don't do this, but the big ones certainly do.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#146

Post by VonGuard »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #119
yurishimo wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

$3 a month per person is not a business model...

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#148

Post by jamiek88 »

edgyquant wrote: post #63
ehPReth wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

Netflix does however work with a smart dns spoofer.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#149

Post by hnarn »

vmoore wrote: post #147

It's great it's open source and all, but the download[0] is still a binary blob we have to trust. [0] https://downloads.nordcdn.com/apps/windows/NordVPN/latest/No...

Unless there’s reproducible builds I guess having the source code gives little comfort. Does the compiled application work with NordVPN services at least?

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#150

Post by medo-bear »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #134
causi wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

There’s many ways Netflix could detect VPN use, especially on mobile devices. It’s not obvious at all. Netflix could be doing something as simple as checking the IPs or could be actually checking the use of VPN at a system level. Both are equally valid readings of the GP comment.

seems like torrenting is still easier (and safer) than using netflix and co
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