You have to be very careful with VPNs. Even if they're not directly controlled by spooks they often collect information that a privacy service shouldn't collect. It's also very hard to get reliable information on different services because VPN shills rival the DNC's astroturfing abilities.
Tor/TAILS should also be pretty secure, assuming the unlikelihood that all 3 nodes you pass through are compromised by the same entity. But it's so slow that it becomes impractical for casual internet use.
Hide among the noise? As soon as you access any website or download or post any dissident comment, then you're immediately going to be flagged. Even if your online activity is perfectly legal, you're being entered in a database and analyzed.
As soon as you access from a connection that you own. Access it from other peoples connections. Generate the noise yourself. Make your connection look like it belongs to a dorm. Bounce your traffic through two separate connections. Learn how to make all your connections look different. Noise is more than just volume.
So.. your complaint is that it's hard to be an armchair dissident?
Tor is free, so I don't know where you're getting this $20/mo bit from, and it was used and recommended by Edward Snowden while evading detection by the NSA. Going over to your friend's apartment to use their internet, however, is not a good opsec strategy.
I'm not familiar with it, so I can't say. The point isn't that all VPNs are bad, or even that a particular VPN is bad. The point is that there are a lot of bad actors in this space and a lot of shills that make getting honest information difficult.
I've used NordVPN for a while now, but I only flip it on when I sail the high seas. I use adblock (doesn't everyone?), use Brave browser, and have a pi-hole on my network, which black holes most ad sites and malware at the DNS level.
NordVPn seems fine to me. I have one browser with the extension so it's always on there. I use a NordVPN proxy server for Bittorrent. (Protip, you can do the same thing on Android with Firefox Beta that supports extensions. You setup the proxy server so it will always be used unless you turn it off).
They do actually cut people's internet off for piracy, so using a VPN is practically important beyond just the 5 eyes looking at your stuff which they probably do anyways.
I've only ever heard good things about protonvpn, but admittedly I'm not sure how you could verify that the servers they host outside their own country don't secretly cooperate with other governments.
I bought some headphones that were advertised on YouTube -- they broke after a month, and I feel like this is like that. I would not know about expressvpn but for ads (endorsements). That is perhaps a poor way of picking, uh, vendors.
I used proton, then I used a script that let me tunnel into a VPS of someone that I trusted. I think I can still trust them, but they don't have that hardware anymore. :(
Pretty cool setup actually, privacy anywhere on Earth straight from the Balkans.
You have to be very careful with VPNs. Even if they're not directly controlled by spooks they often collect information that a privacy service shouldn't collect. It's also very hard to get reliable information on different services because VPN shills rival the DNC's astroturfing abilities.
Tor/TAILS should also be pretty secure, assuming the unlikelihood that all 3 nodes you pass through are compromised by the same entity. But it's so slow that it becomes impractical for casual internet use.
Tor is just a huge pain to use. Wish I knew of a better alternative.
Hiding your traffic makes it easier to find because so few people go to that trouble.
Your better bet is to hide among noise.
Hide among the noise? As soon as you access any website or download or post any dissident comment, then you're immediately going to be flagged. Even if your online activity is perfectly legal, you're being entered in a database and analyzed.
As soon as you access from a connection that you own. Access it from other peoples connections. Generate the noise yourself. Make your connection look like it belongs to a dorm. Bounce your traffic through two separate connections. Learn how to make all your connections look different. Noise is more than just volume.
So.. your complaint is that it's hard to be an armchair dissident?
Good luck.
No, I'm saying that choosing not to hide your traffic is stupid.
Yes, and I'm telling you that "hiding your traffic" is impossible, and you should be smarter, if you actually want to be a "dissident."
Or.. I guess.. yea, the guys charging $20/mo can hide you from the government.
If you believe that.. I have some other services you might be interested in.
Tor is free, so I don't know where you're getting this $20/mo bit from, and it was used and recommended by Edward Snowden while evading detection by the NSA. Going over to your friend's apartment to use their internet, however, is not a good opsec strategy.
So what's wrong with NordVPN? I have never gotten an answer to this question that satisfied me.
I'm not familiar with it, so I can't say. The point isn't that all VPNs are bad, or even that a particular VPN is bad. The point is that there are a lot of bad actors in this space and a lot of shills that make getting honest information difficult.
How long until they cause my phone to explode?
I've used NordVPN for a while now, but I only flip it on when I sail the high seas. I use adblock (doesn't everyone?), use Brave browser, and have a pi-hole on my network, which black holes most ad sites and malware at the DNS level.
NordVPn seems fine to me. I have one browser with the extension so it's always on there. I use a NordVPN proxy server for Bittorrent. (Protip, you can do the same thing on Android with Firefox Beta that supports extensions. You setup the proxy server so it will always be used unless you turn it off).
They do actually cut people's internet off for piracy, so using a VPN is practically important beyond just the 5 eyes looking at your stuff which they probably do anyways.
Get a Swiss VPN with a No-Logs policy that is only subject to Swiss privacy policies.
I've only ever heard good things about protonvpn, but admittedly I'm not sure how you could verify that the servers they host outside their own country don't secretly cooperate with other governments.
They donate to some stuff that I would absolutely consider a red flag, but I also don't know if there are better services.
They also turn people in to the Swiss government, who can then share that information at their pleasure.
expressvpn was already dodgy a few years back after they were bought up
I bought some headphones that were advertised on YouTube -- they broke after a month, and I feel like this is like that. I would not know about expressvpn but for ads (endorsements). That is perhaps a poor way of picking, uh, vendors.
I used proton, then I used a script that let me tunnel into a VPS of someone that I trusted. I think I can still trust them, but they don't have that hardware anymore. :(
Pretty cool setup actually, privacy anywhere on Earth straight from the Balkans.