Comment on DNS-based tracker blocking vs local app-based tracker blocking,

• stifle867@programming.dev ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That’s not what I’m talking about. I meant to say that AdGuard on mobile (Android) runs by pretending to be a VPN in order to intercept all connections and filter the ads out of them. This works great to remove ads in apps, etc.

  However, because it hooks into the VPN interface you can’t then run another VPN (for example Proton VPN) because Android only allows one VPN to run at any time.

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  • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Right. I understand that.

    What i mean is that if you want to run a VPN with Adguard, then Adguard VPN is compatible.

    Not ideal, I get it, but if you need to bypass geo restrictions or to keep your ISP from spying on you, then it works great.

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    • stifle867@programming.dev ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Oh you’re talking about AdGuard VPN not solely the main AdGuard product. Definitely not ideal. It doesn’t offer the same level of features as my current VPN who offers ad blocking anyway. Not to mention a few suspicious quotes from their website:

      AdGuard VPN protocol uses the most secure and fast encryption algorithm to date – AES-256

      From the very outset, we resolved to develop and deploy an in-house VPN protocol instead of picking a canned solution — that’d be too easy

      We are going to make our protocol implementation publicly available in the future. Sadly, right now we don’t have enough time to prepare the project

      we collect data about how you interact with our services, how much traffic you’ve used, and for how long have you been using our services

      ADGUARD SOFTWARE LIMITED is a company registered in Nicosia, Cyprus, registered office is at Klimentos 41-43, KLIMENTOS TOWER, Flat/Office 25, 1061, Nicosia, Cyprus and acts as the data controller when processing your data

      Considering Cyprus telecommunications laws it doesn’t seem like the safest place to headquarter a telecommunications privacy company.

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      • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Adguard has been a trusted company in the adblocking space for a very long time, and their CEO and company is quite openly active in the privacy and cybersecurityrealm, so that’s important.

        That said, their VPN is a really new product, so there’s a lot of room for improvement.

        They do have the best adblocking solution, in my opinion, so if VPN is also needed, they give you something for that. The alternatives are often messy or not totally compatible.

        For me, it works great for bypassing geo restrictions, but my threat model isn’t on the extreme end. I got a plan really cheap, so it saves me money over PIA and Windscribe, which i used previously (and sucked for streaming).

        I do suggest that everyone find a solution that works for them, regardless of who they go with.

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