Yep, I’m pretty concerned about privacy. But I don’t think a VPN is the solution. The only thing it does for me is change the IP and city if I want to. Nothing else. My ISP doesn’t see my traffic. I hand over all the data to a VPN provider instead, which sucks just as much!
If I want to go anonymous, I run Tor! I try to give so little info on all the sites I’m a member of. I’m not on YouTube, Facebook or anything like that. Will never be! So I’m just an IP number and a city for them! Possibly they see my computer and some other info as well. They don’t know much more.
Here is the US, all the major ISPs are collecting data because that data is easily monetized. They are also doing lots of other mandated monitoring. Further, many of them are doing extensive traffic shaping. In this case, I trust my VPN provider much more than my ISP.
That being said, using a VPN is just one of many things I do to protect my privacy. It isn’t the “solution”.
Don’t underestimate how much data sharing goes on. If you leak your IP, they can enrich your IP with all the other information that has been collected about you. Unless you do close to nothing online, your IP, unless it constantly changes, is more than enough to identify you fully. I am not talking about social media usage here. I am referring to shopping, searching for a job, participating in discussions, etc.
Yep, I know the U.S. works a little differently than Sweden. If they were to sell our data, there would be big storms among us. We don’t take that. Of course they’ll save info about us for a while. 6 months. Law on it. But if you don’t do something illegal, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t know what kind of data they’d have on me. I don’t see any advertising online. Haven’t seen it in years. And with no real name behind IPt, they can’t be sure of anything. Maybe I’m not even behind the computer or the IP number. I change my IP 1 to 2 times a month. Changing computers and OS all the time.
I know I do everything a little differently, but as far as I know, it’s worked.
Remember that VPNs also provide end to end encryption between you and your VPN exit node, without it traffic sniffing is a very real thing.
VPNs are about security and privacy. Understanding browser privacy and basic network security (ie firewalls) is also required, which is where most people come up short.
I tend to go with no log providers whose no log claims have held up in court, I rotate my usage through multiple providers.
Not concerned enough then, a VPN is essential, albeit just one component of achieving a semblance of privacy.
How would you know? Sounds like your privacy solution is to simply trust your ISP and govt. That is not a solution.
I don’t understand what else to protect myself from. What I want is a little privacy on the internet. I don’t want to be invisible. My ISP can’t release logs how they want and to whomever they want to. It doesn’t work like that where I live. We have to have a court order first. And if I don’t do anything illegal, it’s not going to happen. And if I do something illegal, I’m going to have to blame myself. I don’t want anyone taking my punches to do illegal things.
And what’s tracking me? And who? I block all that stuff. I’ve also said that sometimes VPNs can be good too. But not for me. I don’t need it.
I’m not running on open networks. I don’t even need the internet or smart phones when I’m away from home. I don’t even have a smart phone. I don’t even have Wifi at home. I live in a cave without all the smart stuff. Just the way I want it.
You’ll have to calm down a little before you say I’m not doing enough. I’m doing enough for me. Maybe you’re a more interesting target than me and you need to do more. But for me, that’s enough.
This is what I’ve done to protect myself online. I think there’s enough. Then whether everything I do is good or not is hard to say. But I try and change things all the time. I have tested most things!
First of all, I have chosen an ISP that does not sell my data. I have open fiber and have around 20 ISPs to choose from. I took an ISP that I have walking distance to that I trust.
I have a modified Firefox with 3 extensions. uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere and NoScript. I block 3 party cookies and 3rd party frames. My DNS goes through Pi-hole and Unbound. I block Google, Facebook and all other similar sites. Half the internet is broken for me.
I don’t have any accounts anywhere. Netflix, Spotify or something. I do not have a smart phone or any smart gadgets at home. Does not use Wifi, bluetooth either. I run Debian on all my servers. I have a custom Windows 10 as well. Everything is stripped! And I have a two-way firewall on all my computers! They are configured as they should. I’ve been doing this for a long time.
I never use my real name online! Do not use email anymore. If I need to use email, it’s an alias. No proper email. Changes IP numbers from time to time. And I have used VPN as well! I do not trust VPN. Then if it’s just me, or if there’s something in it. Hard to say. Most VPNs say they do not save logs. Difficult to sell a VPN tunnel otherwise.
The list will be long if I were to write everything I do
Just wanted to say I do a lot! People think I’m crazy!
Probably my longest post on EOS and probably a lot of spelling mistakes. English is not my language!
I will try to explain why I do not need a VPN or trust them.
I have a good ISP that I know is reliable. And follow our laws. I know they own the servers. I know who is behind the ISP and can get hold of them easily. It is possible to protect your DNS and data that an ISP sees without a VPN. Most are already encrypted today.
When it comes to a VPN provider, I have no idea if they own their servers, who the owner is. I know nothing! I know what everyone is saying on the internet. That’s all. Words! What are the laws in the country? There are too many uncertain questions all the time. There’s no way I can trust a VPN provider.
At least that’s a bit of how I look at everything.
Now, I’m not going to try to deceive you here – the links in this best VPN article areaffiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I will be paid a small commission if you decide to use one of the services below.
But as everyone knows, you should take everything with a pinch of salt.
It’s going to look different for everyone.
If you have a bad ISP, a VPN can be better and so on. What kind of laws does this country have? There’s so much that matters. But a VPN is not something to recommend to people without knowing exactly why!
Currently I rarely use a VPN, mostly when I am using public Wi-Fi or trying to access some things otherwise I couldn’t (like geo-restricted TV streams…)
Due to my basic use, I currently use Windscribe Free. It’s a great VPN with 10GB of data/month and I never had troubles with it
I think I may have killed this thread a little bit. That’s not what I wanted. I don’t mind a VPN. I also think it can be good sometimes. And I like to hear about people’s experience with different VPNs.
I’ve used ProtonVPN, OVPN, Mullvad and a few more with good results. But as it stands for me today, I don’t need a VPN. But if someone comes up who can guarantee that they won’t save logs, own the servers and they can’t access them by other people. Then I’ll be curious to try it. But I’d like some guarantees first. Not just words on the internet.
Swedes seem to have much more trust in their govt than the rest of the world.
Most countries these days have data retention laws, so for most of the world VPNs are essential (with common sense usage) if you don’t want your detailed private internet usage history in govt hands / ISPs and sold to who knows where.
Unless there are specific laws forbidding the sale of such data I will assume a private company will attempt to monetize this data if they can. This may or may not happen in Sweden, but it does in most of the world.
As for trust, this is why using VPNs that have had their no logs claims tested in court is important.
Like most I have nothing to hide either, its just the principle of being spied upon and tracked that irks me. Like a peeping tom looking through my window watching me work. I’m doing nothing wrong, but I still don’t want them watching me.
I don’t trust them either. I think Sweden is as bad as many other countries. We dance after the U.S. pipe here. Our government is afraid to do anything else. They say we should follow laws but don’t do it ourselves!
The world works fine!
Edit:
But we have some really good ISPs in Sweden. They don’t give anything out to others. Bahnhof is one of them. I can have them, but I chose another good ISP.
Edit 2:
This is what they say:
Bahnhof offers fast, secure and affordable internet services to individuals and businesses since 1994.
Our promise is to give customers maximum security against surveillance, corporate espionage and leaks – something that becomes increasingly important as society is digitized.
We are located in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Umeå, Borlänge and Kiev.
It’s not something that just says. A lot of writing about them in Sweden. They are ALWAYS on the customer’s side.
this is the best one that I’ve found so far (but I’m not subscribed yet)
they own all their servers.
I do not yet have found another one that seems to offer the same level of privacy.
(and they are from Sweden )
Bahnhof also has a website where they hang out stuff that is not right in Sweden:
Unfortunately it is in Swedish!
Edit 2:
Bahnhof saves as little data as possible about our customers. We delete IP addresses within 24 hours in accordance with the European Court of Justice’s disapproval of Swedish data storage in December 2017. We will never accept this type of extortion activity.
I’m switching to Bahnhof now. Will, however, have to wait 1 month before. I have already paid for my ISP.
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