Poll of the Day > vpn's don't actually do shit

(+) Yeah! (+)

a vpn, or virtual private network, is often used as a tool to enhance privacy and security online. it encrypts your internet traffic and hides your real ip address, making it appear as if you're browsing from a different location. however, a common misconception is that a vpn can completely stop your isp, or internet service provider, from tracking your online activities.

while a vpn can certainly make it more difficult for your isp to track your online activities, it doesn't provide complete anonymity. your isp can still see that you're using a vpn, and they can see the amount of data you're transmitting, and what data you are transmitting. they may also be able to see the destination of your vpn connection, which could potentially reveal the websites you're visiting.

additionally, your vpn provider may still be able to track your activities. many vpn providers keep logs of their users' activities, which can be accessed by authorities if they request them. if you're using a vpn to engage in illegal activities, it's important to keep in mind that a vpn may not provide complete protection.

overall, a vpn can be a useful tool for enhancing privacy and security online, but it's important to understand its limitations. if you're looking for complete anonymity online, a vpn may not be enough on its own.

That's precisely why you stay away from the big name companies like Express and Nord.

If you get a VPN from a company that doesn't store anything, then the most your ISP has against you is speculation based on data transfers alone which is equivalent to nothing.

And that topic title is a lie.

How to tell if your VPN is working: You cancel your ISP and the internet keeps working... cuz how else is the data gunna get to you?

Krow_Incarnate posted...

That's precisely why you stay away from the big name companies like Express and Nord.

If you get a VPN from a company that doesn't store anything, then the most your ISP has against you is speculation based on data transfers alone which is equivalent to nothing.

fully 100% factually false lol

my guy even this website knows if you're using a vpn, you think your isp doesn't?

The only time I really use a VPN is for work, basically I need to be on it in order to access work sites. I never considered it "secure" for me, it is just about being secure for the company that I am working for.

The only way you are really going to have personal security when browsing the Internet is using an overlay network. However, even several of the servers in that network are owned by the FBI so you are still going to be trackable by the "government" if you are really worried about that.

why does chatgpt3 always sound the exact same

has anyone made a module that actually types like a human being talking on an online forum

well, i don't really know much about that kind of stuff, but it seems like it would be really hard to make a computer type like a real person.

i mean, people are pretty complicated, and they use all kinds of different words and phrases, so it's probably not easy to program a computer to do that.

but who knows, maybe someone out there has figured it out

helly you need to stop

you need to stop

ConfusedTorchic posted...

well, i don't really know much about that kind of stuff, but it seems like it would be really hard to make a computer type like a real person.

i mean, people are pretty complicated, and they use all kinds of different words and phrases, so it's probably not easy to program a computer to do that.

but who knows, maybe someone out there has figured it out

Oh, have you tried asking it to sound like a person?

shadowsword87 posted...

Oh, have you tried asking it to sound like a person?

Would that work? Or would you need to make it more specific?

You can be more specific, it's an AI, it can figure it out. Some people ask it to respond "in the style of X", or to not use cooperate speech structure.
There are some people online who have gotten really good at it.

Did you copy and paste this from ChatGPT?
This is common sense.

shadowsword87 posted...

You can be more specific, it's an AI, it can figure it out. Some people ask it to respond "in the style of X", or to not use cooperate speech structure.
There are some people online who have gotten really good at it.

An AI might be able to figure it out But it might just spew out shit like it usually does, as well When reading stuff written by AI, its can be very obvious sometimes

shadowsword87 posted...

Oh, have you tried asking it to sound like a person?

no that was me...

fuckin psyche

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/5/AAeEKDAAEbEz.jpg

Region locked streaming services or region specific streaming catalogs

that's really it. it's just a more fancy proxy server, which most places figured out how to block easily, just like most places are figuring out how to block vpns.

like i said, even this website for example, knows.

make a new account on a vpn, it automatically shunts you into read-only

ConfusedTorchic posted...

that's really it. it's just a more fancy proxy server, which most places figured out how to block easily, just like most places are figuring out how to block vpns.

like i said, even this website for example, knows.

make a new account on a vpn, it automatically shunts you into read-only

Yeah. Ive seen it do this one before

damn bro i hate that my ISP can see all my internet browsing details

i'm gonna let this random other company that's offering a vpn service for 4.99 a month have all my data

People in China use a VPN to get around every government restriction pretty easily, so I would say that they "do shit".

If you use a reputable VPN properly, you
A) will never get flagged by your ISP for your activities (unless you are a literal fucking terrorist), and
B) not have your browsing history exposed to law enforcement

If you're trying to hide from the NSA's database... try disconnecting from the internet, because not even Tor isn't going to help you with that. Maybe y'all shouldn't have voted for it.

If you've got any sort of Torrenting going on, a VPN will save you from any kind of ISP strike, so I don't know what you're talking about man.

For your average person it's kind of slactivism. If you care so much about government spying, the answer to that isn't to buy a product capitalizing on that issue. 100% these VPNs would be in favor of Authoritarian internet policies because that's what keeps them in business.

josh posted...

damn bro i hate that my ISP can see all my internet browsing details

i'm gonna let this random other company that's offering a vpn service for 4.99 a month have all my data

They have a vested interest in hiding/deleting that data, so when you follow the $$$ you can tell how it actually works

But you do have to pick a reputable VPN. If you pick a shit one, then it's worse than not using one at all.

Also, even Google seems to hate VPNs. If you haven't noticed, using NordVPN with google is a quick way to get your account banned. That's more effective than I thought they would be.

If you use Google's FI's VPN, then you just got suckered hard. Hilariously. Your ISP cannot be your VPN. lol. lmao.

Yellow posted...

People in China use a VPN to get around every government restriction pretty easily, so I would say that they "do shit".

no the absolute hard fuck they do NOT

you know how hard it is to find a vpn that can get through chinas firewall?

people pay fucking thousands for that information.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

no the absolute hard fuck they do NOT

you know how hard it is to find a vpn that can get through chinas firewall?

people pay fucking thousands for that information.

bruh have you ever been to China and spoken with a Chinese person lmfao

For context, a hostel I stayed at was owned by a young man who showed me how he used YouTube, Google, etc. I was impressed, but he was still hilariously bad at searching for things. But you thinking it's hard to get to outside sites is hilarious.

https://youtu.be/rvJTnn9njZQ?t=1096

my cousin lives in china, yep.

i also know that vpns that heavily advertise they can get through, like expressvpn, struggle hard with trying to get through china, so much so that it rarely even works.

china fuckin hates vpns. they only technically allow "approved" vpns, which only means china-backed vpns, which is just paying china for the ability to use the internet more freely, because they're government-owned shell corp vpns.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

my cousin lives in china, yep.

i also know that vpns that heavily advertise they can get through, like expressvpn, struggle hard with trying to get through china, so much so that it rarely even works.

I'm sorry but your cousin must not be very...capable.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

my cousin lives in china, yep.

i also know that vpns that heavily advertise they can get through, like expressvpn, struggle hard with trying to get through china, so much so that it rarely even works.

china fuckin hates vpns. they only technically allow "approved" vpns, which only means china-backed vpns, which is just paying china for the ability to use the internet more freely, because they're government-owned shell corp vpns.

you can also build your own vpn in under 20 minutes

honestly i can't really confirm or deny that

ReturnOfFa posted...

you can also build your own vpn in under 20 minutes

you wouldn't do something illegal in china now, would you

ConfusedTorchic posted...

honestly i can't really confirm or deny that

sorry I'm being a weiner. I'm not exactly ultra tech proficient but I did a 2 year network technician diploma. we built vpns...although you have to be comfortable setting up a server, or a virtual server, networking etc.

and tbf I am being totally allegorical here and my experience is from 2014. so also sorry for being a dick lol I'm just grumpy from work. I'm just confident there are a lot of people in China that figure out ways to circumnavigate the internet, and there're definitely people that share the tools they create to do so.

oh no, i know it's easy to build a vpn, i was commenting on if my cousin was good at computers or not

ConfusedTorchic posted...

oh no, i know it's easy to build a vpn, i was commenting on if my cousin was good at computers or not

ahah ok

it does look like you kinda have to stay dynamic and keep adjusting what vpns you use, at least based on what I've seen on youtube

ConfusedTorchic posted...

fully 100% factually false lol

my guy even this website knows if you're using a vpn, you think your isp doesn't?

No shit they know you're using a VPN. But aside from how much data you're transferring, that's all they know. That's nothing.

Krow_Incarnate posted...

No shit they know you're using a VPN. But aside from how much data you're transferring, that's all they know. That's nothing.

they also know where you're at, because the traffic is only encrypted once it hits the vpn service.

turning the vpn on, typing www.illegaldownloadshit.geocities.net, the request still goes through your isp, because it has to reach the vpn.

you're an utter fool if you genuinely think a vpn blocks everything, because it doesn't, it never has unless you're remoted into a vm somewhere else and using one on that.

a lot of services claim that the data is encrypted before it leaves the device. that's a mistruth, because your isp needs to know where to route the request. did you never actually wonder how people get hit with dmca notices and police raids for illegal activities, despite only ever using a vpn that claims to not store your data?

according to vpn providers and vpn stans, that can't be possible while using a vpn, and yet it happens all the time.

using a vpn is fine, it's just a fancier proxy server like back in the day. using it to get around region locking is the only thing it should be used for. using one for illegal activities wont actually stop you from getting found out if anyone were to actually want to. usually the isp doesn't care until they get told to push a notice to you from an outside organization. obviously this isn't true for all, third world countries and dictator countries, for example, they just block the vpn and make them illegal, like china and russia.

also... i don't trust any product that's almost always 80% off

ConfusedTorchic posted...

they also know where you're at, because the traffic is only encrypted once it hits the vpn service.

turning the vpn on, typing www.illegaldownloadshit.geocities.net, the request still goes through your isp, because it has to reach the vpn.

Helly you're an alright guy, but please learn how VPNs work

VPNs do hide DNS requests. ISPs don't know you're typing www.illegaldownloadshit.geocities.net, Google Chrome does though, and will immediately tie it to your account, which has a list of all IP addresses you've ever used as well as just your straight up identity. What you're describing is a DNS leak, and it comes when your browser is misconfigured or ignores your VPN's provided DNS lookup service. Aka it's a common security flaw and one of the many things you have to think about if you're a bad criminal downloading free Mario games. Just because you have a VPN set up, doesn't mean that every program is forced to use it, they can completely ignore it.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dns-leaks-can-destroy-anonymity-using-vpn-stop/

Also, idk who needs to hear this, but please for the love of god no one pirate Windows software, unless you don't care about identity theft or your money or basically any of your possessions.

It is the fastest way to get a virus. Last time I looked at the bay, it was endless viruses. You have to have a proper eye to sift through that trash these days. If you're a grown boy with a job/welfare payments just buy the video game.

man that only further proves ai helly's point btw

i don't think you're gonna win against this

but it's also a big pain in the ass to do replies with ai helly so i'm prolly done w/ this topic now

ConfusedTorchic posted...

man that only further proves ai helly's point btw

i don't think you're gonna win against this

Yeah you're right, why lie to myself, I give up.

not you

I give up anyway.

Yellow posted...

Last time I looked at the bay, it was endless viruses.

the bay has been inherently worthless and virus-ridden for multiple years now, it's a shell of its former self

for the record i don't have a cousin that lives in china

i don't actually know where it got that one from. i used to, but i don't think i fed it anything that would have had that information in it

agesboy posted...

the bay has been inherently worthless and virus-ridden for multiple years now, it's a shell of its former self

I wish Microsoft was competent enough to make the Windows app store popular, then we wouldn't still be using this dangerous .exe garbage.

I was setting up our product for our company, and was like "hey, MSIX packages are far superior to executables in every way including security" and the boss was like, "no lmao I like freedom, make it use exe or re-write the whole thing, it's a huge failure and oversight on your part that your modern framework doesn't support a 30-year-old aging format"

People literally do not realize that Notch could have (had) a bad day and steal your credit card numbers because exes are insecure. People are very lucky that the vast majority/entirety of indie developers are not bad enough to do that.

are msi files not different than exe

afaik msi isn't safer but msix is

ConfusedTorchic posted...

are msi files not different than exe

I believe msi is just a set of parameters for Windows to take and install your program, denying your program a slight degree of admin permissions to fuck with your computer. But then you're going to run it anyway as the exe that was installed, and 99% of users will click that "allow elevated permissions" anyway, not that it needs that to get a keylogger or screen recorder running, or just send all your browser cookies+login tokens over the developer. The purpose of MSI might just be to make it easier for developers to create installers, not to enhance security.

MSIX packages are sandboxed much like an Android program. I wouldn't say that makes them harmless, but you can see the permissions it requests when you install it.

Yellow posted...

and 99% of users will click that "allow elevated permissions" anyway,

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/9/3/AAGJd8AAEbWR.jpg
(I don't know how I haven't been ransomware'd yet)

Yellow posted...

Helly you're an alright guy, but please learn how VPNs work

VPNs do hide DNS requests. ISPs don't know you're typing www.illegaldownloadshit.geocities.net, Google Chrome does though, and will immediately tie it to your account, which has a list of all IP addresses you've ever used as well as just your straight up identity. What you're describing is a DNS leak, and it comes when your browser is misconfigured or ignores your VPN's provided DNS lookup service. Aka it's a common security flaw and one of the many things you have to think about if you're a bad criminal downloading free Mario games. Just because you have a VPN set up, doesn't mean that every program is forced to use it, they can completely ignore it.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dns-leaks-can-destroy-anonymity-using-vpn-stop/

Exactly, and some VPNs have browser extensions for that exact purpose.