this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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Privacy

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Best VPNs (programming.dev)
submitted 1 year ago by Buggo@programming.dev to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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My subrsiption with surfshark is ending soon and I was wondering if there was something better around the same price. There are a lot of ads about many VPNs but a lot of them don't look so "safe and private" as they want you to think so it's hard to really figure it out. I don't want to spend too much since I don't use them very often but I kinda like the "change catalog of netflix" thing and to be safe while doing some """""""shady"""""" stuff

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[–] roulettebreaker@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

With VPNS i usually vouch for two services: Mullvad and Proton.

Mullvad is a no-bullshit VPN as described before, it just works and it's cheap as hell. It'll let you do your netflix hopping, but for any skullduggery I believe they're killing their port forwarding, so I wouldn't really recommend it for that front. You'd be better off subscribing to a usenet index for that and then using mullvad on the side instead of ARRing.

Proton is amazing but only truly worth it if you're using the suite-- Emails, drive, VPN, the whole 9 yards. It's a bit costly but no one does it like them. They also have a solid free tier for the VPN if you'd like to try them. And they do port forwarding (as of this comment).

Haven't tried expressVPN but I've heard lots of good things about their audits. I'd feel comfortable with them but I can't give any pointers.

TL:DR Mullvad for simplicity and price, Proton for features & using their Suite, something like Express for something that just does VPN and nothing else.

I steer clear of Nord & Surfshark for personal reasons. VPNS that do too much sponsor marketing outside of network/privacy communities strike me as suspicious IMO.

[–] cambionn@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yup I got the whole Proton suit mainly for email and calendar, but use the rest too for specific use-cases.

I also like that Proton has a few VPN servers with adblocker and tracking blocking built in, so you can use the default DNS and have the same settings as other users which helps with avoiding fingerprinting while still having an easy system wide adblocker and tracking blocker.

[–] roulettebreaker@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, the in-built blocking is amazing for a fire and forget kind of deal. I'd still rather block my network traffic myself, but when I'm on the go and don't have control over what network I'm in (or really, what's on my device) this is the way to go.

[–] cambionn@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I use this function mainly on portable devices. At home just block it network wide.

[–] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

MullvadVPN is great. It's a no-bullshit VPN.

[–] leraje@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Another vote for Mullvad. You can pay by cash, vouchers (in some countries) or Monero for total privacy.

[–] delnac@lemmy.one 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I believe it does have an issue surrounding their disabling port forwarding, which becomes problematic if you try to torrent, or so I understood.

They are A+ on privacy and transparency, that being said.

[–] leraje@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

They have recently removed support for port forwarding. That won't stop a user being able to torrent but it will stop seeding and will affect discoverability and speed somewhat.

Has no negative impact on their privacy features

[–] Confused_Emus@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I use Proton. May be a bit overkill for what you're looking for if you want just a VPN - Proton includes email, a calendar, and cloud storage - all encrypted. Their VPN client supports port forwarding and split tunneling. They categorize their servers to show which are best for torrenting and/or streaming. Some of their servers also serve as end points for the TOR network.

[–] bl00dmeat@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

I use the free tier of Proton VPN primarily for travel. Probably the only free VPN I trust, but there is a paid version for faster speeds and more features.

[–] UnexampledSalt@lemmy.ko4abp.com 3 points 1 year ago

I have used ProtonVPN and ProtonMail for years now and I absolutely love their service.

[–] Glunkbor@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I had a few different ones (Surfshark, Mullvad, Vypr), but in the end I just really liked Proton the most. It is not the cheapest, but the UI of their software is easy, I can use it on all my devices (including fire stick), it works well with streaming services like Netflix and I recently upgraded to pay 2€ more per month and now I got a cloud drive of 500GB, some mail adresses and other stuff on top. I can recommend it because for me it just works flawlessly and the speed is good.

[–] SirElliott@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I am a huge fan of Proton’s paid vpn. Easy to use, relatively cheap, covers loads of devices, and includes encrypted email. I used PIA for a few years, but quit because it wasn’t able to effectively get around geoblocks.

I’ve also heard great things about Mullvad, but have no experience with them.

[–] Bicyclejohn@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Proton with windscribe, riseup VPN and calyx VPN as backups

[–] eatmoregreenfood@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can anyone comment on NordVPN?

[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm a 4 year user, but will cancel. Their app in just non stop abusing my phone's notification system to try and upsell their other products. This is MY phone, not their personal marketing billboard.

[–] randomwords@midwest.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use private internet access. Say what you want about them, they are one of the few that have proven in court that the do not keeps logs.

[–] EndOfLine@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I left PIA after they were aquired by Kape (formerly Crossrider). There's a lot of shady past there, from their ties to Israeli surveillance and intelligence organization (Unit 8200) to their history of producing malware. It just made me uncomfortable, so I moved to ProtonVPN and have been very happy there.

https://restoreprivacy.com/private-internet-access-kape-crossrider/

[–] Arcaneslime@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Used to use Mullvad but since their port forwarding fiasco I need to switch.

(I get that they had people abusing that system, but as a privacy based service they should expect the same pitfalls as every other privacy based service, like Tor, Matrix, etc. All you can really do is keep whacking the mole, or shut it down for everyone incl. the people using it for it's intended purpose too whom you had advertised port forwarding to, who wouldn't have bought your service if it didn't have port forwarding to begin with.)

So now I'm looking at IVPN or Proton. Does anyone have experience with IVPN or know how trustworthy they are? I'm wary on Proton after Protonmail gave that French activist's IP to their Feds, and they have a free tier which usually on a VPN means they sell your data, but afaik they are the only two that'll let me PF and I have a need, a need to seed.

[–] Widget@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IIRC free tier on ProtonVPN blocks whatever peer to peer traffic they can detect.

I wouldn't worry about privacy within the contents of the VPN though, as a lot of their services do require money so they should have quite a lot of funding through the paying users (like me.)

They do what they can to promote as much privacy as possible, but email really doesn't lend itself well to that just in general. I would always suggest accessing any clearnet site through a VPN or Tor if you do sensitive work online.

[–] Arcaneslime@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I bet it does, I'll be paying whoever I go with anyway, but the just the existence of the free tier has me wary due to how every single other free VPN works. It may be that this one subsidizes the free tier with the paid or treats it as a loss leader, but "free VPN" is always sketchy without knowing that for sure, which I do not.

Regardless of monetary incentive or lack thereof, privacy remains a concern. If I were not concerned about privacy, why even use a VPN? Unfortunately, torrenting harms the Tor network, so it is not really a good alternative either.

Email isn't private, sure, but that doesn't mean that your email provider needs to snitch on you to the Feds either. I'm not wary of proton because "email isn't private," I'm wary of proton because "they directly complied with law enforcement's request to turn in an activist." Not that I want that in an email provider itself but I have a VPN. However, if they're also my VPN provider then they have my real IP. Rn, proton only has me from Mullvad and farther back from Nord, they don't know my IP to turn me in, but if I buy their VPN service, that changes, then they know everything.

Honestly I might just look into hosting myself a VPN on a VPS.

[–] cambionn@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Afaik Proton only logs stuff and gives that to the feds if and after they get a coord order from the Swiss juristiction, in which case any provider would have to do that or they'll be the one taken offline with criminal charges instead. I recall Proton even being quite firm in requiring that order before doing so.

So basically, don't do criminal stuff and you'll be fine. Or at least, don't rely soley on a VPN to hide your criminal stuff 🙃.

As far as the free tiers of their services, they have the same policies but are much more limited. Pretty sure they just pay them from paying users, and use them in hope people trying it become paying users. While it's good to be wary of any free service, especially but not limited to VPNs, I don't think Proton specifically is an issue.

Personally, I'll also be wary for anything that's promoting a lot trough influencers and social media btw. Similar to free services, it's often a sign they're not that trustworthy and upstanding.

[–] Arcaneslime@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

VPNs are for "illegal stuff." Namely piracy. That and monotoring of your digital things can be done in connection with real world "crimes" like drug use or activism, see: that aforementioned French activist. :upsidedownface:

That may be, but the only confirmation I have of this is your assumption, which is hardly confirmation at all, unless you own Proton.

True, though word of mouth has to come from somewhere, and I'd rather trust a guy with a legit article (hopefully one that says "IVPN servers raided, nothing found") than "GeekFeed's top 10 'no log' VPNs 2023 1. Nord 2. ExpressVPN ad that looks like it'll give me CyberGonorrhea 3. Proton.." Those podcast ad VPNs may be fine to trust for a shaver or some undies but I'm not using my VPN to watch Japanese Netflix, I'm sharing copywritten material in a country that frowns upon such actions.

You may just luck into the sale though, because they may be the one I trust most out of my 2-3 whole options all said and done. I'll make sure to pass on your u-name so you get commission if I do. Like I said though I may just go VPS once I really look into all that, I'm sick of these companies' bullshit.

[–] leraje@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

A VPN service isn't for illegal stuff. It can be used that way but for me its usefulness is in providing a layer of privacy between me, my ISP and online services I use.

[–] eruchitanda@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

In terms of privacy, Mullvad VPN is the one that considered the most private by the community.

A. WireGuard.

B. Cross-platform.

C. No need for Email to register.

D. Let you pay with cash.

E. Don't have affiliated videos amd commercials.

~~F. Support port-forwarding.~~

G. Had no scandals over the past decade.

Stolen from Reddit - link to archive.org - to make sure that Reddit won't make money out of it :3

E: unfortunately F is no longer true :/

[–] leraje@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

F. is no longer true. They recently removed support for this after lots of people abused the feature.

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