{"id":242,"date":"2016-04-22T22:25:29","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T21:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/?p=242"},"modified":"2016-04-19T22:28:26","modified_gmt":"2016-04-19T21:28:26","slug":"5-ways-your-vpn-is-not-as-private-as-you-think-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/5-ways-your-vpn-is-not-as-private-as-you-think-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways Your VPN Is Not as Private as You Think It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Virtual Private Networks are a vital element of your online security. While you may be confident in your home or work network security, there is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/3-dangers-logging-public-wi-fi\/\">no way to use public Wi-Fi safely<\/a> without a VPN.<\/p>\n<p>But <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/set-vpn-good-idea-use-one\/\">setting up a VPN<\/a> comes with a very important trust issue \u2014 that no one is able to find out what websites you\u2019re accessing. This is as vital for keeping your bank details private as it is for concealing other personal online activity \u2014 and the nature of secure transactions and data encryption means that you cannot have one without the other.<\/p>\n<p>However, not all VPNs are as secure as you might think. While they might offer a range of all-important, impressive-sounding security bells and whistles, the truth is that few of them \u2014 if any \u2014 offer a truly private experience. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Complete Anonymity Is a Lie<\/h2>\n<p>How much are you paying in VPN subscriptions? $100 a year? More? All for that guarantee that your privacy is being maintained \u2014 that you are anonymous online.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.makeuseof.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/muo-security-vpn-privacy-diagram.jpg?2047b0\" alt=\"muo-security-vpn-privacy-diagram\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Well, we\u2019ve got news for you. You\u2019re not anonymous. While your VPN provider may well be promising that their service is anonymous, with no logging, there is no way that you can verify this. Indeed, it\u2019s quite a leap of faith, under the circumstances.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c\u2026you have absolutely no way to know for sure how safe a \u2018No logs\u2019 claim really is. Trusting your life to a no logs VPN service it is like gambling with your life in the Russian roulette.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>\u2013<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wipeyourdata.com\/other-data-erasing\/no-logs-earthvpn-user-arrested-after-police-finds-logs\/\">Wipe Your Data<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>What is most important from a VPN provider \u2014 anonymity, or transparency? We reckon finding a VPN that you can trust trumps any fake notion of anonymity and the avoidance of keeping logs. The trick is finding a VPN that truly appreciates your anonymity and privacy, and we\u2019re afraid that such networks are in very short supply.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Anonymity Does Not Equal Privacy<\/h2>\n<p>Some VPNs provide tools to control your privacy. Such features can be used to manage access to your personal data, but they don\u2019t eradicate all data that can be used to identify you.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"fitvid949855\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Oo8SMjT6R7I?feature=oembed\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Even if you were to combine a VPN with Tor and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/6-open-source-messaging-apps-secure-skype\/\">encrypted messaging<\/a>, you still would not be completely anonymous; all of these tools can be forced or subverted to track, should you become a \u201cPerson of Interest\u201d to the authorities. While your activity would remain private, thanks to encryption, the fact that you were online, engaged in some form of exchange, would be recorded.<\/p>\n<p>As Edward Snowden stated:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c\u2026basic steps will encrypt your hardware and \u2026 your network communications [making] you\u2026far, far more hardened than the average user \u2013 it becomes very difficult for any sort of a mass surveillance. You will still be vulnerable to targeted surveillance. If there is a warrant against you, if the NSA is after you, <strong>they are still going to get you<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>3. The \u201cNo Logging\u201d Myth<\/h2>\n<p>VPNs vie for your attention and hard earned cashed by enticing you with the promise of not logging your activities. This \u201cno logging\u201d selling point is hugely attractive, but is, sadly a myth. Even with our selection of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/best-vpn-services\/\">best VPN services<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s set this straight now: you cannot run a server without logs. Without logs, a VPN provider would be unable to handle DNS requests, prevent abuse, troubleshoot connections, or limit VPN accounts based on the subscription type you\u2019ve chosen, such as putting a cap on the amount of data you can use.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"682259976304390144\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>With many occurrences of VPNs advertising a \u201cno logging\u201d service subsequently handing data over to law enforcement agencies, it should be quite obvious that \u201cno logging\u201d either doesn\u2019t mean what you think it does, or has become a <em>de facto<\/em> advertising term in the VPN sector that we should more or less ignore. Those VPNs that don\u2019t require a sign-up and can only share the information that they collect? They\u2019re low quality, unreliable services that often make browsing the web privately less fun than a dental operation.<\/p>\n<p>Concerned about your VPN\u2019s use of logs? Find a reference on their website that shows exactly what information they <strong>do<\/strong> retain, and use this to make a decision as to whether the service is for you. If the VPN doesn\u2019t provide any information as to how they handle logging and what information is retained, it\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Check the Privacy Policy<\/h2>\n<p>Information about logging will typically be found on the VPN\u2019s Privacy Policy page, but that\u2019s not the only reason to check the policy. Very often, marketing information starkly conflicts with the minutiae.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.makeuseof.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/muo-security-vpn-privacy-policy.jpg?2047b0\" alt=\"muo-security-vpn-privacy-policy\" width=\"640\" height=\"457\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In almost every case, your IP address, username, operating system, and times of connection and disconnection from the service are the very minimum that is collected by the VPN\u2019s logging system. Doesn\u2019t sound particularly anonymous, does it? So <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/product-client-personal-data-economy-explained\/\">much information can be gleaned<\/a> from this skeletal collection of facts.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Rented Cloud Servers Necessitate the Use of Logging<\/h2>\n<p>There are, it seems, two types of VPN: those that use their own servers, and those that rely on cloud solutions. As we\u2019ve already seen, it is very difficult to run a server without using logs, and even tougher to run any subscription-based online account \u2014 if not impossible.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.makeuseof.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/muo-security-vpn-privacy-server.jpg?2047b0\" alt=\"muo-security-vpn-privacy-server\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With the vast majority of VPN providers using third party servers, it is virtually impossible for these services to run without logs being collected. While the VPNs themselves might not be creating logs, the servers they are renting do, by design of the hosting providers.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a great example: the EarthVPN customer who used the supposedly anonymous service to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wipeyourdata.com\/other-data-erasing\/no-logs-earthvpn-user-arrested-after-police-finds-logs\/\">make a bomb threat<\/a>. He was apprehended after Dutch police obtained a court order to seize the server from a third party datacenter, where they found the person\u2019s IP address logged (no doubt as part of the datacenter\u2019s strategy to combat DDOS attacks).<\/p>\n<h2>The Surprising Shortcomings of VPNs<\/h2>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re using a VPN to do some secure online shopping from the comfort of a comfy chair and latte in your local caf\u00e9, or attempting to avoid detection of your torrenting activity, the fact remains that no VPN service is as secure as you believe it is.<\/p>\n<p><small>Image Credits: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/pic.mhtml?id=138714284\" rel=\"nofollow\">Undercover agents<\/a> by Phovoir via Shutterstock, <a title=\"VPN Tunnel via Shutterstock\" href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/pic-230597269\/stock-photo-vpn-tunnel.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">arka38 via Shutterstock.com<\/a>, <a title=\"Privacy Policy Information Principle Strategy Rules Concept via Shutterstock\" href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/pic-399058051\/stock-photo-privacy-policy-information-principle-strategy-rules-concept.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">rawpixel.com via Shutterstock.com<\/a>, <a title=\"network engineer working in server room via Shutterstock\" href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/pic-256763353\/stock-photo-network-engineer-working-in-server-room.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Dmitry Kalinovsky via Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/5-ways-vpn-not-secure-think\/?utm_campaign=twitter&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">article<\/a> originally appeared on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\" target=\"_blank\">Makeuseof<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virtual Private Networks are a vital element of your online security. While you may be confident in your home or work network security, there is no way to use public Wi-Fi safely without a VPN. But setting up a VPN comes with a very important trust issue \u2014 that no one is able to find &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/5-ways-your-vpn-is-not-as-private-as-you-think-it-is\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">5 Ways Your VPN Is Not as Private as You Think It Is<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[10,32],"class_list":["post-242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-security","tag-vpn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions\/243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}