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ProtonVPN or Mullvad? Why would you choose one over another? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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[+] -6 points 1 year ago (23 children)

It's kind of sad, that people still believe that VPN is a safe option. Sure, it ads a layer, but anyone who wants to know who you are, can find out by your fingerprints, your accounts, anything you put out there. So if you do anything but light surfing, then you are not anonymous with VPN.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    people still believe that VPN is a safe option

    What does that sentence even mean without context?

    Safe against whom? I'm pretty convinced a VPN is safe against :

    • your boss or manager if you somehow browse on your corporate network
    • your flatmates or family member if you browse at home and do not necessary trust them or whomever setup the router
    • your school
    • the manager of the cafe you are using WiFi on

    I'm pretty convinced might be safe against larger scale surveillance :

    • your ISP if it is not doing deep packet inspection (and that's pretty much per country basis AFAICT)

    I'm pretty convinced might NOT be safe against professional individual surveillance :

    • state level professionals using exploits and actually knowing your name, not your nickname
    • your VPN provider or the cloud provider you rely on to install the backend side of Wireguard or OpenVPN

    So... no I don't think anyone can make your VPN pointless. Clearly the random person sitting next to me in a cafe can not. Only few people with the technical expertise or power can do that. None of that matters though if you already volunteer your information elsewhere publicly on private platforms like Instagram or YouTube though.

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  • [+] -18 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    You certainly are "pretty much"... :-)

    So, what do you do, since you don't trust your family? Seems pretty much suspect there... or pretty much paranoid.

    You are not safe against any of those you mention. Don't you know what VPN does, and does not?

    You are pretty much NOT safe against large scale surveillance.

    Thanks for backing me up, with the last thing you wrote. And then please go read up on what VPN actually does, and does not.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    alright then, keep your secrets

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I always keep my secrets. :-)

    I have also linked to a couple of articles that touch on what I'm talking about...

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (13 children)

    Under no circumstance does that mean it is not worth getting one. Particularly dependent on where one lives.

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  • [+] -9 points 1 year ago (12 children)

    It certainly does - if you don't know how to actually use it in a proper way, because then it becomes totally meaningless to even have VPN... No matter where you live. Please read up on what it does and does not!

    https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/7-dangerous-vpn-myths-you-probably-believe

    https://www.tomsguide.com/features/are-you-really-invisible-when-you-use-a-vpn

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (11 children)

    Yes locks on your door are pointless because if someone wants to break into your house they're going to do it once way or another, especially if you leave the window open

    This is a dumb take.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    You are right, your take is really dumb. So why do you share it?

    A dumb take is, to pay for something you might get nothing from. But hey, you do you... VPN-providers are happy for people like you.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    A dumb take is, to pay for something you might get nothing from.

    You just described every form of insurance.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    To you, maybe... I'm sorry to hear that your insurances isn't working for you.

    What I described might be taken as me describing an insurance, that you totally foil, without knowing it, because you didn't read the policy, and you don't know what it covers and doesn't cover.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    If everyone always got payouts for the insurance they pay into, the industry literally could not exist.

    It's the entire business model.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    Clueless... If you have insured your house against fire, and your house burns down, you should always get the money you have insured it for. If the shed in your yard is not covered by that insurance, you won't get any money if it burns down. That's logic. If you want money for that too, it should be included in the police.

    But I see that you really don't get the point here, even though you wanted to use "insurance" as the (faulty) example here. Maybe you should stick to the topic.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (5 children)

    A dumb take is, to pay for something you might get nothing from

    And which VPN provider is it you're getting "nothing" from? There seems to be a budding market for VPN's out there, lots of people are paying for them and continue to do so, why do you think that is? Because the whole world is stupid and it's a pointless waste of money? Or because they are actually in fact getting some kind of use from them?

    VPN's have a myriad of uses, you're focusing on some ambiguous nation-state attacker tracking you down for whatever reason. Meanwhile, quite a lot of users would just like to watch porn without having to submit ID. I'd say they're getting plenty of use out of their VPN for that.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Do take the time to read the comments, so you get the context.

    As I already said, if you don't know how to keep your usage of the internet private, then you will not be private with a VPN either. VPN doesn't keep you private. It will help you to attain a little more privacy, but only is you use it right.

    Please don't tell me what I am focusing on, when I haven't even said it... Making straw man arguments is low. Lying is low...

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    Please don't tell me what I am focusing on, when I haven't even said it

    I literally quoted you, so don't try playing the "I never actually said that" card.

    It's ironic that you're now complaining about context and strawmen when you yourself started it with the whole "anyone who wants to know who you are..." argument. This mysterious "anyone" is the ultimate strawman because they're anonymous and all encompassing. Meanwhile, you have zero idea what anyone wants from their VPN's so you're making the broad, sweeping statements while lacking any context yourself.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    you’re focusing on some ambiguous nation-state attacker tracking you down for whatever reason

    I didn't write that anywhere... You are clueless, to say that you "literally quoted" me... You didn't. What a great liar you are.

    It's ironic that you are this dumb, so please go troll someone else with your childish way of making shit up in a debate.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    You've been making shit up since this whole debate started. You're the textbook definition of "perfection is the enemy of good enough" because 99% of people will find that a VPN is good enough but according to you they're worthless.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    99 % percent will find, that they think they are safe, and yet they are not.

    Thanks for your made up history about me. Hope it made you feel better. :-) But it didn't refute anything I have said. And since you can't either, you just go ad hominem... That's just sad.

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