• Mastema@infosec.pub
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    8 months ago

    For commercial offerings this is probably true for at least some of them, but creating your own VPN isn’t terribly difficult if you are serious about your privacy. I typically just use them when I travel to countries like China where I can’t get to a bunch of necessary services, so I don’t mind if they route my YouTube traffic through CIA headquarters, but if I was doing anything more than that I would just set up my own.

    • Cinner@lemmy.worldB
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      8 months ago

      Part of the point of a VPN is there’s not a dedicated IP tied to you (or at least tying all of your activity together). That doesn’t provide any benefit besides a corporate/government firewall bypass unless a mass of people are using your server.

    • Link@rentadrunk.org
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      8 months ago

      But then you don’t get the benefit of having increased privacy due to lots of people using the same IP.

      • Cinner@lemmy.worldB
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        8 months ago

        I almost never trust any site that advertises any kind of VPN service (it’s always ranked by the best paying referrals) but this mirrors what I’ve seen in discussions.

        From https://www.cloudwards.net/best-vpn-services-for-china/

        Preferred VPN Choice: The general consensus among VPN users in China is that Astrill VPN is the most reliable option. However, it’s an incredibly expensive VPN, so it’s worth trying other cheaper options first. Surfshark is our top choice for best VPN for China as it has a solid reputation for working in the country while also offering affordable plans.

        Alternative VPN Options: Other good options for China include CyberGhost, Proton VPN, Widscribe and Mullvad. NordVPN is also an option, but it’s not as reliable in China as the other six, so we only recommend it if you already have an account.

        Censorship Evasion Strategy: Since VPNs are in a running battle with censorship, we recommend subscribing to multiple VPNs to ensure you have coverage at all times. No matter which VPNs you use, make sure you download them before going to China, as the download pages are often blocked.

      • redcalcium@lemmy.institute
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        8 months ago

        Less and less vpn and vps companies provide services for mainland citizen. The main reason I heard of is when their server got blocked by the great firewall, those customers would immediately perform chargeback to get their money back even though it’s not the fault of the providers. You lose money on chargeback fees which means accepting mainland customers is very risky for them.

        • Suspiciousbrowsing@kbin.melroy.org
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          8 months ago

          If that’s the case, that’s understandable. It’s always going to be a game of cat and mouse, so Id expect it’s quite an expensive market to break in to.

      • Cinner@lemmy.worldB
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        8 months ago

        There are a ton of obfuscating protocols that a VPN can run. obfs is one of the most popular. You can configure your VPN to appear as basically any traffic. HTTPS, DNS, QUIK.