There’s way too much hype over VPN Providers, but do not forget, you are routing all your traffic through their servers

As a general advice, if a VPN provider keeps logs of your activity, does not allow you to pay with crypto, and generally spends way too much on youtube ads is probably not an ideal choice.

Do not follow any advice/recommendation blindly, do your own research on which one offers the best service for your own needs.

TorrentFreak Q&A with VPN Providers

  • PeachMan@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    Something that people need to realize: If you want a VPN for PRIVACY, Mullvad (edit: also maybe IVPN) is the only good option on this list. They make it very easy for you to maintain complete anonymity, they don’t even WANT your email address, you can use crypto, or you can literally mail them an envelope of cash with a note inside containing your unique ID and they’ll load up your account with that value. It’s ridiculous how seriously they take this stuff. And if you’re really concerned about privacy, you should also be taking extra steps like using a hardened OS and browser, and using disposable virtual machines. But I suspect that most of us here aren’t that concerned with actual privacy.

    If you want a VPN for PIRACY, any of these options are probably fine as long as they don’t block or slow torrent traffic. Just use the fastest one here that you can afford. The only thing you’re really doing in this case is blocking your torrent traffic from your ISP. Remember, if you give them a credit card and your email address, then that’s not private! It’s just for piracy. It’s important to look at your priorities and pick a VPN accordingly.

  • Big Duck@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I use mysterium VPN because it has residential IPs, but remember that all your traffic is going through some random person’s network.

  • LukeSky53@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Wasn’t PIA bought out by a company that keeps logs a couple years ago? Interesting it made it on this list.

    • Nogami@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’ve been using PIA for years for my downloading purposes, as well as having a VPN when I travel. No issues at all and completely reliable. Don’t know if I’d trust them to leak state secrets, but not an issue because I don’t have any.

        • Ilandar@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          They don’t. I suspect you haven’t actually read one of these articles in detail.because it is in no way a recommendation from TorrentFreak. It literally opens with this:

          The VPN review business is also flourishing as well. Just do a random search for “best VPN service” or “VPN review” and you’ll see dozens of sites filled with recommendations and preferred picks. Some VPN companies, such as Kape, even own review sites.

          At TF we don’t want to make any recommendations. When it comes to privacy and anonymity, an outsider can’t offer any guarantees. Vulnerabilities are always lurking around the corner and even with the most secure VPN, you still have to trust the VPN company with your data.

          Instead, we aim to provide an unranked overview of VPN providers, asking them questions we believe are important. Many of these questions relate to privacy and security, and the various companies answer them in their own words.

          We hope that this helps users to make an informed choice. However, we stress that users themselves should always make sure that their VPN setup is secure, working correctly, and not leaking. Also, we advise people to properly research the company behind the VPN service.

          NordVPN appears first because it is a sponsor, as is clearly stated:

          *Note: Private Internet access, ExpressVPN and NordVPN are TorrentFreak sponsors. We reserve the first three spots for them as a courtesy. This article also includes a few affiliate links which help us pay the bills. We never sell positions in our review article or charge providers for a listing.

          The same questions are put to every VPN provider on the list. It is unranked - whether they first or last is completely irrelevant.