VPN'S: Are they that private?

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Ragz

VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by Ragz »

One of many reasons I went with Linux Mint over Windows was the privacy. Now I want to expand that and am looking at VPN for my desktop and laptop. Rather than go to specific Corporate VPN websites and read what They say about their product I am asking everyone here with the computer and network knowledge of the in's and out's and the experience of using these. Can VPN stop my ISP from seeing and logging the sites I visit? What about my email also? Which VPN's do you endorse?

Thanks
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fstjohn
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by fstjohn »

Ragz wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:54 am Can VPN stop my ISP from seeing and logging the sites I visit? What about my email also? Which VPN's do you endorse?
Yes, a VPN can stop your ISP from seeing and logging what you do. A VPN will encrypt everything coming from your computer to the internet and encrypt anything coming from the internet to your computer, including email. Traffic is encrypted on your computer and decrypted at one of the VPN's servers before being routed to its destination. Your ISP can tell you're using a VPN but that's all. The VPN can know where your traffic is going and can theoretically read any traffic that was not sent by HTTPS (which remains encrypted all the way to its destination). However a trustworthy VPN (not a free one) will explicitly not keep logs. The best ones sponsor audits of their security practices to reassure users. To choose a VPN, check out the many sites that review and rank the best. Personally I use NordVPN which is consistently rated among the best.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by gittiest personITW »

Ragz wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:54 am Can VPN stop my ISP from seeing and logging the sites I visit?
Yes.

However, how much do you trust the VPN provider?

Do you trust the VPN provider that is based in Panama or Cayman Islands more than you trust you ISP?
Sorry - can't answer that one for you.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by Ragz »

gittiest personITW wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:40 am
Ragz wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:54 am Can VPN stop my ISP from seeing and logging the sites I visit?
Yes.

However, how much do you trust the VPN provider?

Do you trust the VPN provider that is based in Panama or Cayman Islands more than you trust you ISP?
Sorry - can't answer that one for you.
NordVPN is located in Panama!
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by Moonstone Man »

Ragz wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:16 pm NordVPN is located in Panama!
VPN's, when properly configured, are secure. Note the qualification.

As for providers, NordVPN is, IMO, a terrible provider. Getting a consistently good connection relies on using their VPN client. Their server allocation is rotten. If you want to use an openvpn configuration, you must go to their website, find a server offering decent speed, download its configuration, whereupon you connect to it only to find that Nord have loaded the server to the point of uselessness so you must go through the same process all over again ... and rinse repeat. It's a pain to use for those of us who want to maintain control over what the VPN does with things like DNS, ESNI, HoT etc.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by Portreve »

I suppose it depends on how you define "private".

If the company is based anywhere in either the
Five, Nine, or Fourteen Eyes countries, then so long as you're unimportant small-fry, you're probably ok, but if you attract undue attention, you're very likely screwed.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by AZgl1800 »

Kadaitcha Man wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:50 pm
Ragz wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:16 pm NordVPN is located in Panama!
VPN's, when properly configured, are secure. Note the qualification.

As for providers, NordVPN is, IMO, a terrible provider. Getting a consistently good connection relies on using their VPN client. Their server allocation is rotten. If you want to use an openvpn configuration, you must go to their website, find a server offering decent speed, download its configuration, whereupon you connect to it only to find that Nord have loaded the server to the point of uselessness so you must go through the same process all over again ... and rinse repeat. It's a pain to use for those of us who want to maintain control over what the VPN does with things like DNS, ESNI, HoT etc.
I agree,
NordVPN was a horrible experience for me, I canceled their subscription went 'open VPN' and then finally, just got tired of the whole mess and not using VPN at all anymore.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by old_noob »

Portreve wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 6:17 pm I suppose it depends on how you define "private".

If the company is based anywhere in either the
Five, Nine, or Fourteen Eyes countries, then so long as you're unimportant small-fry, you're probably ok, but if you attract undue attention, you're very likely screwed.
The top choice in this article is Express VPN, Based in the British Virgin Islands. That's the UK, 5 eyes. I think Express VPN is a very good choice, just pointing out the inconsistency.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by AndyMH »

I use PIA, one of the mint sponsors.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by Ragz »

AndyMH wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 5:27 am I use PIA, one of the mint sponsors.
Thanks Andy. Looking at multiple VPN's since yesterday I was undecided till I read your reply this morning. After going to their website and reading the info and being based in Colorado I took out a two year subscription.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?-SOLVED

Post by Pepi »

I use ipVanish and I'm finding a lot of sites won't let me on with VPN turned on :roll:
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by AZgl1800 »

AndyMH wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 5:27 am I use PIA, one of the mint sponsors.
Tnx Andy,
I just noted that for my daughter's Win10 laptop.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by Jingleheimer »

Ragz wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:54 am One of many reasons I went with Linux Mint over Windows was the privacy. Now I want to expand that and am looking at VPN for my desktop and laptop. Rather than go to specific Corporate VPN websites and read what They say about their product I am asking everyone here with the computer and network knowledge of the in's and out's and the experience of using these. Can VPN stop my ISP from seeing and logging the sites I visit? What about my email also? Which VPN's do you endorse?

Thanks
Yes, VPNs do help in concealing your real identity so that you can enjoy complete freedom and anonymity. There are service providers that offer VPN for Linux. All you need to do is look for a VPN that is not based on 5,9 or 14 Eyes countries. The reason it is advised is these providers are nor legally bind to keep any sort of information about the users, i.e Zero Log Policy. Whatever you do is only known to you, not your ISP or any other being in the world can know about it. This way you can enjoy complete freedom with anonymity. For instance, I always use Panama VPN whenever I surf the world wide web. I stream, torrent, and unblock any content that I wish without any strings attached.
Last edited by Moem on Tue Sep 07, 2021 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Removed a commercial link
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by gittiest personITW »

Yes, VPNs do help in concealing your real identity so that you can enjoy complete freedom and anonymity.
Only if you visit different sites to when you are not using a VPN and/or use a different system/browser/addons for fingerprinting etc.

Basically, if you are online, you are never going to be completely private - depending on who is watching you.
If it is against some script kiddy hacker - then yes, chances are you can be mostly private. Against a corporation, probably a vpn may obfuscate but not completely obliterate your anonymity. Law enforcement, maybe, maybe not depending how far up the chain. Government, most likely not depending on how much of a problem they think you are.
If you are looking at compromised sites - depends on how compromised they are and, as mentioned before - depends on the VPN and how trustworthy they are - which you will most likely never know.

Also bear in mind that most packet encryption used will be cracked, if it hasn't already, in a few years (Moore's law). So, anything you think is private now - if there is an encrypted record of it somewhere on a cloud, then it is likely that that it will stay secret for a few years, but not forever.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by ne0h »

if uou pay for a VPN, it's safe yes.
free VPN isn't safe.
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Re: VPN'S: Are they that private?

Post by revmacian »

I worked in law enforcement for several years. Here is a rule of thumb: Once data is out of your possession it is both a) no longer your property, and b) no longer secured. Now, VPN's can claim "no logging", but if you cannot control access to your data once it is outside your possession, then you really cannot expect it to remain secure.
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