first of all, most of your internet traffic is already encrypted via TLS (Transport Layer Security). Things that aren’t encrypted are usually videogames or less important applications.
a VPN encrypts traffic between your computer and the VPN server you’re using.
your Internet Service Provider (ISP) sits in the middle of that transaction.
cue the MS paint diagram
Without a VPN:
With a VPN:
the traffic between your VPN server and the rest of the internet is not encrypted any further.
things that VPNs are good for:
bypassing geo-blocking
bypassing website blocks set up by your ISP
obscuring network traffic from your ISP
things that VPNs are not good for:
browsing the internet without having your activity logged. every company that gives internet service logs the activity, it’s half of how they make sure they’re not being hacked.
hiding information from the government. VPN providers WILL bend to subpoenas, they WILL turn over logs of your network activity.
cybersecurity. VPNs can’t save you once the traffic is between them and the final destination. they don’t analyze your traffic to detect and stop hackers, they don’t add any encryption where it matters.
VPNs are not a shortcut to security. you cannot pay 15 dollars a month to forgo all responsibility for your own digital privacy. do your research, use a password manager, stay safe.
my friends i hope you find this information useful. you have been sold a lie. remember to show extreme skepticism to youtube sponsorships and journalism websites which sing their praises.
sources: i have a certificate iv in cybersecurity
ofc this still simplifies things a lot but this is the only good explanation of VPNs I’ve seen outside of in-depth infosec sources
smth to add: vpns don’t even really obscure network traffic from your ISP. unless you set it up differently your DNS lookups are done by your ISP. you essentially go “hi pretty please give me the ip address of websiteidontwantyouknowingivisited.com and then asking them to send spooky unknown encrypted data to the ip address they just gave you. i know my ISP supplied router (that i physically cannot change) does not let me even change the DNS lookup IP, meaning that i have to dick around with creating a new DHCP server just to set up a network wide dns server or a pihole.
it is VERY hard/nigh impossible to be legitimately anonymous online. encrypted dns endpoints add a layer of obscurity, but then become another point of failure.
iirc riseup VPN is pretty much the only VPN that we "know” don’t really have access to logs of traffic, but being a free service relying on donations through crypto, it can be slow as dick. mullvad is aight but it’s still the same shit.
If you don’t want to be tracked by advertisers use a range of different shit:
– smth like librewolf
– disabled javascript
– don’t log in to fucking anything
– don’t reuse email addresses
– don’t use anything that isn’t a 1080p monitor full screened on windows with the default settings on the browser
– don’t go on the internet
– use some sort of line-of-sight bridge to steal the free wifi from the mcdonald’s down the road
the internet fucking sucks. everyone kinda sucks. tor is mid and you rely on exit nodes being trustworthy and that your route isn’t mostly threat actor nodes. i2p is pointless for clearnet browsing basically.
if you can’t tell: i’m very very doomer celled with opsec lmao. i have a degree in this field, and it’s hard to not be doomer pilled. the solution to all of this is to make every company ruining the web bankrupt; don’t pay them to remove ads, use ad blockers, use a pi-hole to block dns lookups to tracking networks, purposefully poison ad networks if you want by setting up a bot to click on every ad it sees to slowly waste the advertisers money.
Watching Star Wars was a mistake. For years I’ve derived so much pleasure from seeing discourse on my timeline that’s like “it’s actually a pretty good writing choice that Glimbo Knutts manipulated the imbledimbians in the force to make Darth Freeble his personal jedi froogler. It gives the original trilogy more depth” and not knowing what the fuck anybody is talking about. But now I do and it’s ruined. I understand what you freak ass dorks are saying and it isn’t fun anymore. Glimbo Knutts making Darth Freeble his jedi froogler DOES give the original trilogy more depth. This sucks man
I once had to explain to my then-gf that Star Wars is like “at the end of the day, even a single person can be a ripple in the movement to destroy fascism. the empire will crumble when confronted with the inherent goodness of the human spirit. to hope is not weak, our hope makes us strong. ISN’T THAT RIGHT, Admiral Beebo?” and then a little frog in a fighter jet goes “BEEBO WEEE-HOO!”
If there was so much discourse over continents I CAN’T WAIT for you to find out about the south-up map
This is what the earth looks like btw
Ok stop answering to this post with “up and down don’t matter in space” cause north and south are not up and down and their orientation doesn’t matter on earth either. This is legit what the earth looks like.
Well somebody has a superiority complex. Go to a shrink or something idk
Just in case you’re feeling important, our planet also looks like this:
“there’s a very good reason we humans tend to draw north up maps” yeah, colonialism and eurocentrism. anyway south up rules
mapposting time post your favorite projections mine is the pierce quincuncial!!!
My favorite map of Earth
Oh I feel like I should be able to fold up the pierce quincuncial into a sort of ball
did someone say fold up into a ball
Waterman is clearly the best except it needs the origami gold lines
