Oddbean new post about | logout
 Best vpn to use in your opinion Matt? 
 MULLVAD, IVPN, OR PROTON 
 from the IVPN page

Despite what many VPN providers advertise VPNs are useless (at best ineffective) at:

Achieving anonymity.
Preventing Google or Facebook from collecting your private data.
Preventing unwanted profiling by social networks or search engines.
Providing better security when ‘working from home’.
Protecting your passwords.
Hiding your mobile phone location (GPS).
Helping you avoid data breaches on services you use online.
Defending against “cyber threats” and identity theft.
Do not rely on a VPN to protect you in any of the above scenarios.

However, a trustworthy VPN can be very effective at:

Encrypting your data so your ISP or mobile network provider cannot monitor or log your online activity. Without a VPN, HTTPS still exposes the domain name or IP address you are visiting to the ISP.
Encrypting your DNS requests so your ISP or mobile network provider cannot monitor or log the domains you visit.
Increasing your security on untrusted public networks by preventing MITM attacks.
Masking your IP address from websites and servers you connect to.
Circumventing censorship or geographical blocks on websites and content. 
 wonder what it actually takes to block Google and Facebook from one’s private home network — seems rather invasive from these companies 
 Privat Internet Access, PIA? 
 PROTON only because it is the only non-obvious spook that offers free tier if you cant pay for the service. If you need the service and want to pay for it, MULLVAD and IVPN are infinitely better (no mail-based login, bitcoiners as first-class citizens...)