Advice Request VPN ownership- what do we know and can we really trust them ?

[n8chavez]

As time goes by I'm becoming less inclined to use a VPN continually, maybe just for times when I need more privacy, SurfSharks reply makes me less inclined to use a VPN? Managed 20 years without one - I was looking around at VPN's over the last couple of weeks & many including Nord have a red Exposed greeting at the top of their page as if not using a VPN or theirs puts you at major risk, it doesn't & those are scare tactics

SurfShark greets you with Unprotected again in red along with your IP & your ISP/&location on their main page, I would think to worry a person? - Not becoming of any decent company but much like much of the computer security industry?

I'm pretty sure every vpn does this, and I don't think it's a scare tactic. It's legitimate. You are unsecure. A VPN is a secure connection between computers. Based on that definition they are correct. How are they to know if you are using a vpn if you are not using their own?

 

[Brahman]

Long story short, don't entrust your sensitive data with any vpn, if your life depends on it and don't even think of any free vpn services. If it's not sensitive data, ie you only need to visit some.... pleasure giving website...then it's okay to use any decent vpn, otherwise create your own vpn...()

 

[n8chavez]

Long story short, don't entrust your sensitive data with any vpn, if your life depends on it and don't even think of any free vpn services. If it's not sensitive data, ie you only need to visit some.... pleasure giving website...then it's okay to use any decent vpn, otherwise create your own vpn...()

I don't see a different argument here. You're still putting your trust in someone. In this case it's just a vps provider and not a vpn. You're still having to trust that neither one keeps logs or has jurisdiction issues. At least with a vpn you can have features like a network lock / killswitch, wireguard, possible double-hop, and diskless systems. If it's a choice between trusting someone with features, versus someone without, someone where I can see their jurisdictions, versus someone who almost certainly is in "eyes" territories, I chose to trust a VPN.

 

[SpiderWeb]

I have changed my mind since my last post. I think your default mindset should be trustless. A good VPN should be a VPN that doesn't know what you are even doing. Too many make excuses for why they log and all of that software can be rewritten to log everything. Learn from Windscribe. If they don't encrypt everything and have a strict no logs policy, and latest protocols those are 3 red flags. I think it's all too good to be true. They are probably making money selling our metadata to intelligence which makes them more money than subscriptions.