ProtonVPN is a Swiss based option (taking it outside the 5-eyes scrutiny) and has proved to be quality so far. It does have a free version but that's very limited, and well worth upgrading if you can. It's the only free option I'd really have any trust in, frankly. (https://protonvpn.com/)
PIA, or Private Internet Access is another paid option that offers a good service and solid feature set. Gobs of servers around the world and I've had good experience with it. Like Proton, they purport not to keep any logs of user activity and there is so far no reason to believe otherwise. (https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/)
Don't use PIA, used to use it and but it got bought out by an Isle of Man company late 2019 , a company that use to make adware before rebranding as a privacy company. They also bought an israeli based VPN service that then busted for leaking data.
Reddit link
Use Mullvad instead. Swedish based decentralized service that uses FreeVPN IP addresses. Can pay with Bitcoin if you're that extra paranoid.
If your goal is to just bypass censorship, you don't need a particularly trusted or secure one, so you could use any cheapo VPN like NordVPN or Surfshark.
That being said, I like Mullvad because they give you a 5€/month (≈$5.50) flat rate, so they don't force you to buy multi year memberships. Also you can pay them with bitcoin or by mailing cash, they are that serious about privacy.
Another very good one is ExpressVPN, they cost much more than their competitors but are one of the most if not the most secure and trusted VPN. One time the Turkish government seized one of their servers but couldn't find any user data, because their no-log policy is true and not just a marketing point.
I use NordVPN and am happy with it. I bought a three year deal about 18 months ago so it's been quite cheap. I think it was $100ish for 3 years. I don't really want to say I recommend it as I'd prefer to encourage research, but all in all I have zero complaints. It's decent speed with lots of servers in lots of places, has software for Android, Linux, and Windows, and OpenVPN support. OpenVPN is a key one, because I also do things now like having it running on my router, I can make it stay active and only work on certain apps on things like Android TV streaming boxes, all kinds of stuff.
I'm still torn on where I should deploy a VPN and how effective it is at privacy, at which point I'm still not convinced that ISP and IP level tracking are anywhere closest to the weakest point when you've got hostile OSes, browsers, and such to contend with.
I think you might be more interested for censorship avoidance, and well China hasn't even managed to block these things totally.
I urge everyone to take a look at this website (as a starting point).
Use a vpn that has no logs.
Use an adblocker like ublock origin.Read the ublock origin documentation or watch TheHatedOne ublock origin video on Youtube to better understand how to use it to it's maximum potention.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock
You can use rss for youtube channels. With a combination of mpv player + youtube-dl you probably wont ever have to visit the Youtube site unless you want to read comments.
Use open source browsers like firefox or brave.Also make sure to go the Firefox/Brave settings to make it more privacy friendly. Firefox out of the box has very bad privacy. If you are planning on using on using firefox, make sure to harden it (look at the link i gave).
Abandon Microsoft and Apple. Embrace Linux.
And this is just the beginning.
Install a custom rom (read about LineageOS with or without MicroG) or root your phone. Whether or not you do those, you should still do the following -
Use privacy friendly open source apps on your phone from F-Droid.
https://f-droid.org/
Some examples - Newpipe instead of Youtube. Y
It is better to use the browser instead of relying on apps though. Use Fennec browser (Firefox fork from F-Droid) or Bromite (you need to add the repository first), Firefox from the Google Play Store has telemetry.
Deny permissions to apps that you think is unnecessary. Or remove the app.
Whether you are on pc or android, wipe out metadata from files/pictures before sharing it online or with anyone.
Don't believe the nonsense that there's nothing you can do to stop big tech spying on you. You can at least minimize the spying.
I use vpn.ac and they seem pretty good. Cheap I suppose is a relative term, I pay about $50 a year. The nice thing is that they work on virtually every platform so I VPN all my connections from my PC to my tablet, phone, etc.
Free VPNs are generally not a good idea, they don't have the security or features you really want.
I would start here and see what kind of features you're looking for as well as any things you might be concerned about like company location or the ability take crypto etc: https://www.safetydetectives.com/best-vpns/#detailed-vpn-comparison
Plus he doesn't shill for any particular paid VPN service unlike a lot of other review sites.
Odd... PrivateInternetAccess, CyberGhost, and Zenmate have very different entries despite IIRC all of them being owned by Kape Technologies. Is Kape really that hands off?
ProtonVPN is a Swiss based option (taking it outside the 5-eyes scrutiny) and has proved to be quality so far. It does have a free version but that's very limited, and well worth upgrading if you can. It's the only free option I'd really have any trust in, frankly. (https://protonvpn.com/)
PIA, or Private Internet Access is another paid option that offers a good service and solid feature set. Gobs of servers around the world and I've had good experience with it. Like Proton, they purport not to keep any logs of user activity and there is so far no reason to believe otherwise. (https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/)
Either or both are worth giving a shot.
Don't use PIA, used to use it and but it got bought out by an Isle of Man company late 2019 , a company that use to make adware before rebranding as a privacy company. They also bought an israeli based VPN service that then busted for leaking data. Reddit link
Use Mullvad instead. Swedish based decentralized service that uses FreeVPN IP addresses. Can pay with Bitcoin if you're that extra paranoid.
Thanks, that's good info.
If your goal is to just bypass censorship, you don't need a particularly trusted or secure one, so you could use any cheapo VPN like NordVPN or Surfshark.
That being said, I like Mullvad because they give you a 5€/month (≈$5.50) flat rate, so they don't force you to buy multi year memberships. Also you can pay them with bitcoin or by mailing cash, they are that serious about privacy.
Another very good one is ExpressVPN, they cost much more than their competitors but are one of the most if not the most secure and trusted VPN. One time the Turkish government seized one of their servers but couldn't find any user data, because their no-log policy is true and not just a marketing point.
I started using Protonvpn recently myself even started moving my emails to Protonmail as well. Its pretty nice.
I use NordVPN and am happy with it. I bought a three year deal about 18 months ago so it's been quite cheap. I think it was $100ish for 3 years. I don't really want to say I recommend it as I'd prefer to encourage research, but all in all I have zero complaints. It's decent speed with lots of servers in lots of places, has software for Android, Linux, and Windows, and OpenVPN support. OpenVPN is a key one, because I also do things now like having it running on my router, I can make it stay active and only work on certain apps on things like Android TV streaming boxes, all kinds of stuff.
I'm still torn on where I should deploy a VPN and how effective it is at privacy, at which point I'm still not convinced that ISP and IP level tracking are anywhere closest to the weakest point when you've got hostile OSes, browsers, and such to contend with.
I think you might be more interested for censorship avoidance, and well China hasn't even managed to block these things totally.
Free VPNs should never be used. You and your data are the product of a free service.
I like Mullvad. Simple interface, no complex billing, very private.
Look into a Linux os as a possible future option as well. No clue when they are going to try to start tracking and blocking at an os level
Free means it's a trap and your data is getting sold to cover the cost of servers.
https://www.privacytools.io/
I urge everyone to take a look at this website (as a starting point).
Use a vpn that has no logs.
Use an adblocker like ublock origin.Read the ublock origin documentation or watch TheHatedOne ublock origin video on Youtube to better understand how to use it to it's maximum potention. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock
Watch Youtube videos without all the spyware. Invidious is an open source front end for Youtube. https://github.com/iv-org/invidious
You can use rss for youtube channels. With a combination of mpv player + youtube-dl you probably wont ever have to visit the Youtube site unless you want to read comments.
Use open source browsers like firefox or brave.Also make sure to go the Firefox/Brave settings to make it more privacy friendly. Firefox out of the box has very bad privacy. If you are planning on using on using firefox, make sure to harden it (look at the link i gave).
Abandon Microsoft and Apple. Embrace Linux.
And this is just the beginning.
Install a custom rom (read about LineageOS with or without MicroG) or root your phone. Whether or not you do those, you should still do the following -
Use privacy friendly open source apps on your phone from F-Droid. https://f-droid.org/
Some examples - Newpipe instead of Youtube. Y
It is better to use the browser instead of relying on apps though. Use Fennec browser (Firefox fork from F-Droid) or Bromite (you need to add the repository first), Firefox from the Google Play Store has telemetry.
Deny permissions to apps that you think is unnecessary. Or remove the app. Whether you are on pc or android, wipe out metadata from files/pictures before sharing it online or with anyone.
Don't believe the nonsense that there's nothing you can do to stop big tech spying on you. You can at least minimize the spying.
I use vpn.ac and they seem pretty good. Cheap I suppose is a relative term, I pay about $50 a year. The nice thing is that they work on virtually every platform so I VPN all my connections from my PC to my tablet, phone, etc.