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Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

expressvpn.com

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Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#21

Post by petercooper »

netsharc wrote: post #18
lapser wrote: post #14

> With virtual locations, the registered IP address matches the country you have chosen to connect to, while the server is physically located in another country. How does this work then? How can you have a Indian IP address, while the server is located in the UK?

How does Geo-location from IP work anyway? From my knowledge it's just figuring out the ISP the IP-block is assigned to, and finding out the address of the ISP. But technically a computer anywhere in the world can have any IP? Or since I don't know anything about routing: are there routing rules that would think "This is an Indian IP, I'm going to forward this data towards India"?

I think it goes deeper than that. Even here in the UK with its heavily centralized PoPs it's possible for geolocation tools to narrow a consumer down to a specific town (my cable connection tends to get geolocated to a big town 20 miles from me though) so I assume databases of locations of PoPs are maintained somewhere too.

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#22

Post by jaywalk »

night-rider wrote: post #4

What if you spin up a VPS based in India and install OpenVPN/Wireguard on it? Surely they can’t demand logs of a box you operate yourself?

A lot of services (like Netflix) block datacenter IPs to prevent this sort of thing.

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#23

Post by 0daystock »

> Not only is it our policy that we would not accept logging, but we have also specifically designed our VPN servers to not be able to log, including by running in RAM.

Do people really believe this bullshit? Empty claims of servers running "in memory" as a meaningful defense against surveillance?

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#24

Post by antihero »

Renaud wrote: post #6
night-rider wrote: post #4

What if you spin up a VPS based in India and install OpenVPN/Wireguard on it? Surely they can’t demand logs of a box you operate yourself?

What makes you think you can operate in a country without obeying its laws, however detrimental to privacy they are ?

Disregard for laws. Can be good, can be bad, but never underestimate the empowerment of disobedience.

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#26

Post by sodality2 »

0daystock wrote: post #23

> Not only is it our policy that we would not accept logging, but we have also specifically designed our VPN servers to not be able to log, including by running in RAM. Do people really believe this bullshit? Empty claims of servers running "in memory" as a meaningful defense against surveillance?

Non-persistence of any data is a positive in terms of data at rest, how is that not a defense against surveillance? Regardless of the fact that it's not verifiable, assuming it were true, would it not be a good thing?

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#27

Post by throwaway0x7E6 »

0daystock wrote: post #23

> Not only is it our policy that we would not accept logging, but we have also specifically designed our VPN servers to not be able to log, including by running in RAM. Do people really believe this bullshit? Empty claims of servers running "in memory" as a meaningful defense against surveillance?

these claims aren't necessarily empty, but pointless because ISPs still log everything, as they're required by law pretty much everywhere. it would require a bit more digging to through, but the data is still there - even with some clever routing with on-premise equipment, there's still more than enough data to deduce which inbound connection corresponds to which outbound connection

if your threat model is three letters agencies, vpns and tor are a fig leaf

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#28

Post by 0daystock »

sodality2 wrote: post #26
0daystock wrote: post #23

> Not only is it our policy that we would not accept logging, but we have also specifically designed our VPN servers to not be able to log, including by running in RAM. Do people really believe this bullshit? Empty claims of servers running "in memory" as a meaningful defense against surveillance?

Non-persistence of any data is a positive in terms of data at rest, how is that not a defense against surveillance? Regardless of the fact that it's not verifiable, assuming it were true, would it not be a good thing?

How is an anonymous, non-attributable, non-verifiable statement, from a company trying to sell you a product, worth anything? Why assume it's true when it is so contrary to even basic common sense, for anyone who has ever stood up a LAMP stack?

Re: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India

#29

Post by bragr »

lapser wrote: post #14

> With virtual locations, the registered IP address matches the country you have chosen to connect to, while the server is physically located in another country. How does this work then? How can you have a Indian IP address, while the server is located in the UK?

They must control ranges of "indian" IP addresses but announce BGP routes for them in Singapore and the UK. GeoIP says India, BGP takes you somewhere else. Easy peasy
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