The Dangers of using VPN

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Revision as of 01:46, 30 May 2019 by Eskimo (talk | contribs) (External links added)



IP logging


There is no method to determine what provider is telling the truth about logs and which one isn´t, you must rely on open source information to pick the best VPN provider, try to pick a company with a record of not handing over logs to law enforcement [2], this confirms that it is truly impossible for them to facilitate something they haven´t got.

How to pick a VPN

If your interest is privacy, making sure that your government does not spy on you and your Internet browsing remains private, you will want to have the following

  1. Pick a VPN provider that has been around for sometime and has good reputation
  2. Pick a VPN provider that does not keep any kind of logs and their focus is on privacy
  3. Pick a VPN provider that will block your Internet connection if the VPN disconnects, this is known as a killswitch
  4. Pick a VPN provider that is not located in the same country where you live, it makes it more difficult for your government to abuse their powers

There are various ways to uncover the original IP when you are behind a VPN, if you download a file with a virus, this can be used to uncover your home IP. A more common way to out your real IP is when your VPN suddenly disconnects in the middle your Internet browsing activities, this can happen for many different reasons, like a weak Wi-fi signal or a network card bottleneck, home Internet connections are usually set up to re-connect automatically if the signal drops and this makes your real IP visible, to avoid from happening, the VPN software you are using must have a killswitch, this little setting stops all of your Internet activities unless the VPN is on, and avoids leaking your IP.

There are other ways that could leak your real home IP when on a VPN connection, you should look out for DNS leaks and WebRTC IP leaks. Reputable VPN companies will stop that from happening but you can carry online tests to make sure that your home IP can not be uncovered.

Payments for VPN services

There are free VPN providers but they cost money to run and if you are not paying for it then somebody else is, they might be selling your data to recoup the cost of running the service, or display advertisements while you surf the Internet, another way free VPNs can exist is by getting you through the door with a restricted free offer, limited bandwidth and low speed and push their paid services all the time in the hope what some of the free users will end up paying.

A VPN service is usually affordable even for low income people, if you use it daily, it is worthwhile to pay for it. A downside of paying for a VPN is that it can be linked to your account, but not all VPN providers link payments with accounts, some of them allow you to use cryptocurrencies and others remove identifying information from the payment records, it is possible to sign up for a VPN service without giving away your name and address, it will depend on the provider, but nearly always you will need an email address to receive the username and password, make sure to sign up using an E-mail provider that respects your privacy.

Generally speaking, if the VPN provider does not keep logs of your activities, it wouldn´t matter if the company has your name address and payment details since they can not be linked to any Internet browsing, but it is always a good idea to reduce personal data to a bare minimum so that if something goes wrong, like a VPN being hacked or a server stolen, the data will not be compromised and illegally stolen.

See also


External links