99% of people using a VPN (in the US) probably don’t actually need one
More like 50% imo, a lot of their use is for torrenting.
99% of people using a VPN (in the US) probably don’t actually need one
I don’t know about need one, but some benefits of using a VPN:
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hide some info from your ISP, a company which already knows far too much about you
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hide info from other devices on your LAN, and your router, which is especially important if you’re on public Wi-Fi
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make it a little harder for web sites to track you, by hiding your home IP address from them
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defeat geo-locking by some sites
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some VPNs provide malware-site blocking, ad-blocking, parental controls features
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maybe add multiple jurisdictions/countries in the way of anyone who wants to DMCA or sue you
Sign up for the VPN without giving ID (easy to do), always use HTTPS for all sites, and use OS’s generic VPN client.
you “run the risk of getting banned by your ISP if you post things they don’t like on Reddit”.
Could be true in some countries. Not true in Western democracies.
You can say China. And it’s not just China.
It’s not just to avoid blocks. Many local services are only fully available in the country and blocked outside (e.g. you want to watch shows on Japanese tv or buy music on Japanese itunes, which has different content from the us one, or you want to watch Netflix being in a country where it’s not officially available yet, which are many)
Most countries filter certain sites out, its just chinas is significantly more restrictive
Lesser of two evils. This isn’t as complicated as you are making it
Wait. All VPN providers are close to a state?
There’s a chart somewhere breaking down all of the VPN services and there’s like two that aren’t affiliated with any states.
You dont. Want to be *sure* a VPN isnt logging your actions? Setup your own.
Google and Cloudflare have policies against identifiable logging.
When using a VPN you’re giving them everything you’d normally give your ISP in terms of data.
Not quite true. There’s technical limitations aka no logs so there’s nothing to sell. There’s policies such as conducting third party audits to verify. And finally there’s also the idea that if they were found to be selling data then that trust would be broken. ISPs make no such claims regarding any of this.
If a VPN really wants to yes they can sell your data which some VPN companies have been found to have done.
If your argument is that if a company is determined to sell your data they will then you’re missing the point. You have to make your own decision. Do I trust based on all the available evidence? In my case yes I do. It’s better than throwing your hands up and saying oh well it’s impossible to have perfect security in every aspect of life therefore I’m not going to try
Besides lawsuits for false advertising?
Because CloudFlare is a company where a large part of their image and values are security and privacy with a track record of fighting for it. If they took major blows to this trust then their value would erode. Not so for ISPs who are publicly known to tamper with user connections to serve ads, sell internet and location data to third parties, etc
hide some info from your ISP, a company which already knows far too much about you
You’re just pushing that data to a VPN company. Sure they may claim not to log anything but you have no way of proving that.
hide info from other devices on your LAN, and your router, which is especially important if you’re on public Wi-Fi
This is pretty much irrelevant since about 5 years ago when most of the internet went to HTTPS.
make it a little harder for web sites to track you, by hiding your home IP address from them
Honestly, does this really matter? Your IP is probably going to change anyways in a week, and websites have much easier ways of tracking you like Cookies.
some VPNs provide malware-site blocking, ad-blocking, parental controls features
This is true, but you really shouldn’t be paying for that. All three of those can be done with free DNS services like OpenDNS or NextDNS.
maybe add multiple jurisdictions/countries in the way of anyone who wants to DMCA or sue you
I guess that’s true
Could be true in some countries. Not true in Western democracies.
This is true, but you really shouldn’t be paying for that. DNS can do all three with free DNS services like OpenDNS or NextDNS.
Would help to see some practical examples to understand why it is not complicated
As long as it is being operated as business, it is governed closely by the laws of the land. And a business like VPN is such a goldmine for state that it would be hard to keep it independent from the political influence.
Setup your own.
But then the data center hosting your VPS may be logging your traffic, and it knows your ID.
True that you never know for sure but some VPNs have had their no logging claims verified in court.
https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/understanding-vpn-logging-and-search-warrants/