I assume this is definitely the case for free VPNs, if any of those still exist. There might be some willing to donate bandwidth and compute resources for the good of others, but I’m sure there’s more that pretend to do that but actually just sell the data or maybe just spy.
Tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if this is also the case for TOR nodes. I wonder how many entry and exit points are run by the NSA or some other government entity. Or are just monitored. If you can monitor the entry and exit points, you can determine both the source and destination, and just match them together using the middle node address.
Same thing with proxies.
Paid VPNs could go either way. On the one hand, they could make more money if they are willing to sell out their users’ privacy. On the other hand, that risks the entire thing falling apart if word gets out that it’s not private, since that’s the whole point of VPNs. I’m sure there’s some good ones out there but I’m also sure that there’s bad ones and wouldn’t be surprised if some of the ones considered good are actually bad.
Maybe ones that run in Europe would be safer bets. Their business is at least able to run there with the privacy laws. Maybe they are skirting them and haven’t been caught yet, maybe their data sales from other regions are profitable enough to support European operations without data sales, but if they are going for max greed and min risk, maybe they wouldn’t operate there. Or maybe they just run things differently in the different regions to maximize global profits.
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Encrypted VPN tunnels are ubiquitous in many industries for remote connection to private clouds. They are used by virtually every high functioning company in the world, and getting more common for mid and lower tier companies as well.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 month ago
There’s no real way to know if VPNs intended for the public are run the same as those intended for enterprise. Windows doesn’t have a lot of the same BS in their enterprise versions that are in the personal ones. Even with the same software, it could just be a checkbox that the salesperson can check for big businesses with legal teams that read and enforce contracts.
Emmie@lemm.ee 1 month ago
I am thinking more in the vein of piracy
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Maybe you can explain what you actually mean then, because I don’t understand your point.
I would say those dollar-store VPN products people use for geo-spoofing is the worst security risk when it comes to VPNs. You are sending your data through some other company that you have no control or insight into. You have no idea what network security they employ, or whether they are willing or obligated to release your data to other parties.
WeebLife@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Are you saying it’s smarter to not use a VPN for piracy?