If under VPN I login to site that knows my true name etc then for at least some time window around that it is not hard to know that VPN internal IP address is me wandering around. This is the same sort of problem you can experience even with TOR. Yeah, random sites are not tracking by my true IP. But that is not exactly enough. Am I missing something?
You have to block tracking, adverts and at the same time use vpn/proxy.
You can’t 100% block it, but let me share my experience. Since 2020, I have set up network-wide VPN and Adblocking through AdguardHome and NextDNS. Use Brave Browser and also Adguard Android when outside. As a result most big techs, google and facebook can’t track all my data, and can’t show me any relevant advertisements. I feel like, I have purchased very little over the last two years.
VPNs do not make you anonymous to begin with.
A VPN is just one small tool to use along with others.
it is not hard to know that VPN internal IP address is me wandering around
There may be 5000 other users using same IP address at same time as you. So someone looking from outside can’t tell who is doing what.
But if you log in to a site, then that site has no need to track you by IP address while you “wander around”. The site knows who you are (by cookie etc) and what pages you’re accessing on that site.
Id recommend mullvad vpn, has great servers, has options to block all trackers, adverts, etc. Keeps no logs (pretty convinced but you can NEVER know for sure with any company) And HQ is located in a country where the FBI nor Interpool has no legal authority to demand any information about users.
You can sign up for Mullvad, IVPN or OVPN anonymously. It is not a given that your VPN provider must have your identity.
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It’s what you want about privacy. What are your goals? Forget about threat modeling. But what are say the top things you care about and the top thing you don’t care about when it comes to privacy.
This was addressed in this recent OSINT podcast. Highly recommend checking it out. Episode 281.
In short: VPN are layer 3 / layer 2 / network devices, they won’t solve issues caused at the “application” layer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model
I login to site that knows my true name etc
Here, you are mentioning an explicit authentication where you, the user, ask to be authenticated. But authentication can also occur without you explicitly asking for it, as an example, with cookies (you could delete them…) or browser’s fingerprinting.
This is the same sort of problem you can experience even with TOR.
Yes, routing your traffic through the Tor Network while using your regular browser/apps is risky because your applications/browser could still authenticate you by other means. You should use the Tor Browser while using the Tor Network.
Here are some articles:
- https://matt.traudt.xyz/posts/2019-10-17-you-want-tor-browser-not-a-vpn/
- https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29
- https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/vpns.html
- https://overengineer.dev/blog/2019/04/08/very-precarious-narrative.html
- https://inv.riverside.rocks/watch?v=gTS17WzsZz8
- https://inv.riverside.rocks/watch?v=oja3UzuuqGQ
- https://inv.riverside.rocks/watch?v=1Zjwwkzbp-Y
If you use a VPN to access a website where you logon using your true name, then yes that website knows your VPN IP address and can associate that IP address to your real name. A VPN IP is usually shared with other VPN users, however, so it’s not terribly interesting information except perhaps in a very targeted attempt to[EDIT] find out who you are specifically locate your true location using your VPN IP as a starting point, as opposed to exposing your IP address via passive information gathering while you browse. Also using a VPN IP address hides your true IP address from the websites you visit, even those that know your real name, so they won’t be able to infer your true location from the VPN IP address unless you’ve also shared your home address or other location information with the website that you’re logged onto.
This is great to hear! I think your point of not being able to block a 100% of everything is true. I think people can over obsess with this.
They also have the option to pay with cash or Monero for less traceability
Yes, being over-obsessed is not good.
We know facebook tracks our data across all other websites, but if you block cross-site cookies in brave, it cannot track other websites. Just because their privacy policy is not good, it doesn’t make sense to stop using because you still want to be socially connected. The same concept applies to many websites as well. We just need to understand the concept of “Threat Modeling” and act accordingly.