Advice Request How does "double hopping" work and what's the point ?

[jetman]

Just for an experiment I have installed F-Secure Freedome on my Windows desktop and I have a Windscribe extension in my browser.
I think this is called "double hopping".

Can anyone tell me-

> What does my ISP know about my browsing ?
> What does F-Secure know about my browsing ?
> What does Windscribe know about my browsing ?

I assume the purpose of double hopping is to improve privacy (not that I have much to hide) but I expect that it would slow down connections. Plus I don't see a way of enabling this on other devices such as an ipad or a phone.

I'm interested in people's comments !

 

[HarborFront]

Winscribe extension uses a proxy in place of a VPN

Windscribe - Free Proxy and Ad Blocker

Windscribe helps you mask your physical location, circumvent censorship, and block ads and trackers on websites you use every day

chrome.google.com

There are a few ways you can use true VPNs to achieve double-hopping

1) Use a VPN which comes with multi-hopping feature like NordVPN, Perfect Privacy etc
2) Run a VPN on your laptop host machine with another VPN in your laptop virtual machine
3) Put a VPN in your router at home and then surf your phone/laptop using another VPN

Fast or slow depends on your internet connection speed and location

 

[Stopspying]

From the Windscribe website - Windscribe

"What is it?

Double Hop allows you to route your requests through ANY 2 locations on the Windscribe network. This is achieved by connecting to 1 location in our desktop applications, and a different location in the browser extension. Websites that you visit will see the IP of the server you're connected to in the browser extension.
Why should I care?

Double Hop provides enhanced privacy and anonymity as it significantly reduces the chance of a correlation attack on one of our servers."

Its the same principle that TOR works on, the more hops between servers the less likely you are to be able to be tracked (hopefully still !).

As for what your ISP knows about your surfing habits while using VPNs; the 'tunnel' that is created by the VPN(s) is supposed to make it impossible for the ISP to see what you are doing online. Obviously the VPN can see that, so make sure they keep no logs, Windscribe and Freedome have better reputations than lots of other VPNs

 

[Ink]

Question;

Forget what the VPN providers are saying for a moment. What do YOU hope to achieve from this? Are you going to be reaping all the benefits from this type of anonymity, will you still get personalised Ads from trackers? Do you use Chrome or Edge logged in your Account which links your browsing history to you? Do you use mobile apps have similar tracking?

 

[Arequire]

What does my ISP know about my browsing ?

If you visit an unencrypted site, your ISP can see the full URL and the content of each webpage.
If you visit an encrypted site, your ISP can see the domain you're visiting but not the specific webpage or its content.
If a VPN is connected, they'll see the IP address of the VPN server.

What does F-Secure know about my browsing

If you're only connected to Freedome without Windscribe, F-Secure can see everything your ISP could see before connecting to Freedome, as stated above.
If connected to Windscribe as well, F-Secure will see the IP address of Windscribe's VPN server. As it's an extension, this only applies to the browser(s) you have the extension installed in. All traffic outside the browser will be handled the same as being connected to Freedome by itself.

What does Windscribe know about my browsing ?

They'll know everything your ISP knew before you connected to a VPN.

I wouldn't waste your time double hopping with multiple VPNs. It increases latency, slows connection speed and only protects against attacks that are usually reserved for targeted surveillance.

 

[jetman]

Interesting answers- thanks.

I’m only playing around with VPNs for a bit of light entertainment !

I mainly use them for a) spoofing my location to access geo-restricted content, b) hiding my IP if I want to stream a pirate film on my Amazon Firestick, and c) logging in to public wi-if if I really have to.

I like the idea of stopping my ISP snooping on me though- they probably collect marketing statistics from users browsing habits even if they claim otherwise. Windscribe and Freedome also offer some ad blocking which is a bonus.

But if I wanted to do something highly secretive (which I don’t) I’d avoid the Internet altogether. I’m pretty convinced the governments of this world have the technology to see EVERYTHING we do online- VPN, TOR or otherwise !

 

[Stopspying]

But if I wanted to do something highly secretive (which I don’t) I’d avoid the Internet altogether. I’m pretty convinced the governments of this world have the technology to see EVERYTHING we do online- VPN, TOR or otherwise !

When you consider some of the agencies that were very instrumental in setting up the internet, and its predecessors, as well as TOR, you may well be correct in thinking that way.