Techdirt Podcast Episode 116: The Truth About VPNs
from the not-so-simple dept
For a long time now, "use a VPN" has been the default online privacy advice -- but is it really so effective? Following the recent VPN boom that came on the tails of Congress scrapping new ISP privacy rules, a few security experts have stepped forward to explain how VPNs aren't all they're cracked up to be, and choosing and using one isn't as easy as many articles and social media posts suggest. Among them are this week's guests, Kevin Riggle (who provided a quick and dirty primer with the key suggestion that most people are safer not using a VPN) and Kenn White (who assembled a list of VPNs he deems "terrible" and not without good reason, recommending a roll-your-own solution instead). They join us to dig deeper into the reality of VPNs and hopefully help some people make better choices.
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Filed Under: kenn white, kevin riggle, podcast, privacy, security, vpn
Reader Comments
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Roll your own
but if you are the only one
using it, eventually traffic
analysis will reveal you.
You need 'safety in numbers'.
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Good source
I don't know how much it gets updated but there is a wealth of information on how to choose a good VPN provider as well as a lot of reviews for specific providers. One thing I took away from reading these reviews is it seems like they all suck in one way or another. Some of them are probably good enough though you might be better off rolling your own if you are so inclined.
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Re: Good source
My take on VPNs is that the more networking knowledge you can muster the more you can improve your safety. Kenn White's "short version" in the link above says everything...
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The wholesale provider that operates the servers?
The reseller that puts its brand name on it?
The datacenter owner that rents out servers and bandwidth to the wholesale VPN company?
It's rare for a "VPN provider" to own and operate all aspects of the service, and just as rare for them to publicly acknowledge this, or to inform customers that their privacy can be infringed by multiple companies as well as by multiple countries.
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I have done that on road trips to avoid the outrageous charges that some hotels want to charge for their WiFi, if you want to use streaming services, such as Netflix or YouTube, and will block them unless you pay the higher fee.
Signing on to the VPN on my home computer lets me avoid that, and the hotel cannot possibly find out what I am up to. They would only know that I was connecting to a VPN on a residential broadband connection, and there is no way they could ever find out what I was doing.
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Great Reporting, but I'm a Little Disappointed
However, for a year or two I’ve been seeing ads regularly on Techdirt for various VPN providers, some of which are on Kenn’s ‘terrible’ list. Many times, these aren’t just sidebar ads, but are Daily Deals that get prominently displayed in the main feed of Techdirt articles. I know there is a disclaimer that these ads aren’t endorsements, but I really don’t buy that (especially in regards to your partnership with PiA, which I’ve specifically used as my VPN for a while now because of that partnership, and in my opinion, your implicit endorsement of their services). In this one small way, I feel a little betrayed.
I know you have to keep the lights on, and I’m aware of how hard that is for you with bottoming out of the online ad market, not to mention the legal battle you’re in. In general, I also don’t mind ads or partnerships. But when it comes to future partnerships regarding security and privacy products, I’d hope you could be a bit more careful about only working with companies whose products you can fully endorse.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. Just felt like I had to get that off my chest. I’ll close by stressing once again how much I appreciate and support the work you do and, in particular, this latest episode of your podcast. It’s the kind of informative and honest reporting I’ve come to love and expect from you guys.
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Re: Great Reporting, but I'm a Little Disappointed
I'll add my own 2 cents here: Troy Hunt went with some sort of curation model. He got rid of the ads altogether and now has a neat sponsorship bar with a text ad for the sponsor. Maybe TD could reduce the number of ads using a mixed system. Things like what you mentioned will still happen but at least random ads will not be the lions share of the mix.
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Re: Great Reporting, but I'm a Little Disappointed
Daily Deals / adverts are one thing but that was an endorsement on a personal level.
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My 2 cents...
Which one is it?
If you can't determine that, how can you trust any of them? The feds lie their ass off about everything under the sun. This would be no different (meaning promises that VPNs make are basically worthless when it comes to trust).
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Misleading?
I think you are missing the point of why most people use a VPN in the first place.
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Re: Misleading?
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Re: Re: Misleading?
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