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On 6/8/22 20:42, Michael wrote: |
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> On Saturday, 6 August 2022 12:08:30 BST Dale wrote: |
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> ... |
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|
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> The more you try to escape the 14 eyes Big Brother, the closer you may fall |
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> into the hands of various authoritarian regimes. LOL! Even VPNs like NordVPN |
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> which operates within the jurisdiction of Panama (let's not forget it is |
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> Langley's doorstep), it also has offices in the UK, Netherlands and Lithuania. |
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> I wonder why . . . |
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> |
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> Total privacy on the Internet is improbable. If your only concern is to |
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> retain your privacy from your ISP with regards to your Internet connections, |
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> then most/any VPN service will offer this benefit by obfuscating your IP |
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> address. Your browsing patterns, browser User Agent, addons and umpteen other |
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> OS and application fingerprints won't be obfuscated beyond the VPN server. |
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> Therefore your identity can only be protected so much and no more. |
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> |
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Also, leakage is almost inevitable ... DNS, content distribution |
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networks, browser fingerprinting, timezones, paying online with a US |
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credit card, US delivery address and just simple mis-configuration |
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exposing you to risk etc. My impression as a long time openvpn user is |
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that TOR and the TOR browser might be the closest to secure for your |
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purposes? Also, keep in mind that things like online shopping will cost |
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you more overseas because if you are successful in hiding you are in the |
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US you will get the international surcharges, or in some cases ordering |
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IT stuff from the US you have to fill out export clearances (once even |
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for sparkfun hobby stuff!) :) ... then if you pay with a US card and/or |
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have a US delivery address they have got you anyway - in fact being in |
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Oz I gave it up as being no gain, too much pain to use a VPN try and get |
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cheaper US shopping. I found myself having to maintain two totally |
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independent systems with one in a locked down VPN with US settings with |
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all traffic actively blocked from the local network, and use US shipping |
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and packaging firms that offered facilities to buy on my behalf. That |
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is much harder than you think - trusting the end points is only one |
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small part of the problem you are trying to solve and from the Gov |
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monitoring point of view almost certainly a waste of time anyway as they |
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have massive resources. The best you can hope for with openvpn is SSL |
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point to point level security. Just use HTTPS, a good browser and be |
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part of the crowd - if you are trawling suspect/socially compromising |
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websites you do not want anyone to see you going to, no matter what you |
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do there will always be a risk and as a VPN user you are a more likely |
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target for a closer look anyway. I am sure the bigger online VPN |
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providers would be monitored closely - at least TOR is likely to help |
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more than a plain VPN. |
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BillK |
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