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*** Note that Proton has a commercial interest in VPNs. This may be biased reporting ***
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/proton-vpn-report-location-tracking-privacy/
With a fast VPN, your speed loss will be virtually unnoticeable.
Using a virtual private network is a surefire way to keep your information private when browsing the internet. But a new report from Proton, released on Wednesday, exposes some major holes in that concept.
A VPN is a tool that encrypts your internet behavior and hides your IP address and physical location, with the goal of keeping your identity and identifying information secure. But 64 of the VPN apps downloaded in the US, Proton found, are owned by Chinese companies and contain trackers that collect all sorts of user information, including device IDs, network information, device models and mobile carrier data.
And 25% of the apps in question were found to actively track your location.
In June alone, these apps were downloaded over 13 million times.
Narrowing down the numbers further, Proton found that 31 of those Chinese-owned VPNs use shell companies registered in jurisdictions such as Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK to further hide their identities.
An authoritarian government like China’s could use this information to track a person’s location. So if a public official, someone in law enforcement, a journalist or even someone attending a protest was using one of these VPNs for safety, this flaw would expose them to potential threats.
It should be clear that China isn’t the only country where companies harvest the data these apps collect, but it’s near the top of the list. Israel, Russia and the Five Eyes countries — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US — all have companies collecting tracking data from millions of people.
Transparency is a big issue here, with a load of bad VPN apps being readily available for download through Apple and Google. Proton’s report points out that both companies require developers to submit their own paperwork to verify their apps, with little verification (and no independent audits) being done on Apple’s or Google’s part. Apple and Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
This lack of guardrails in the verification process makes it hard to decipher which virtual private network apps protect your privacy and do what their policies promise and which are virtually doing the opposite.
“Proton's report is yet another example of why it's so important to know who's behind your VPN and what data they're collecting,” CNET Senior Writer Attila Tomaschek said. “It's also another reminder that just because a VPN app is popular in Apple's or Google's app marketplaces, it doesn't necessarily mean that the VPN app is safe to use.”
If you’re looking for a VPN, Tomaschek points to VPNs like Proton and ExpressVPN, which regularly rank near the top of CNET’s VPN recommendations. Each virtual private network is put through a rigorous testing process that includes a thorough examination of the app’s privacy policy, transparency reports, audits, corporate structure and legal jurisdiction.
When all else fails, avoid any VPN that is murky about any of those key principles. “Instead, opt for a trustworthy VPN that is crystal clear about where it’s based, who’s behind it and how it protects user privacy,” Tomaschek said.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday September 04, @06:29AM
To disable various external attacks on the site we have to have the ability to block specific IP addresses. Most of this is done automatically and depends on how frequently the IP address is being used for abuse. Therefore there has to be a list of IP addresses along with the information relating to its current status (blocked, open, etc). This is normal for many servers on the internet.
The best way of seeing repeated abuse is by looking periodically at specific IPs of interest i.e. those which are repeatedly or frequently used. This very often identifies the source which can be blocked. Therefore the list of IPs has to be maintained over time.
Sock puppets are also sometimes identified based on their behaviour over an extended period of time, which includes the IP addresses that they use when connecting to the site. The IP information is crucial to this. In addition, various fake accounts and instances of abuse (particularly in journals) have been identified and controlled in a similar manner.
The software that we are using is based on software written in the late 1990s. At the time, computer processing power restraints (it was designed to run on 286/386 CPUs) and best practices indicated that the most efficient way to do this was to use a database and to process it when the site is not particularly busy. That is exactly what we have today.
Very few people have offered to help maintain the site software and, those that have, have had plenty to do just to keep the site running. kolie's work over the last year and a half has made the site far more reliable, although there are still areas that require attention. This is time consuming work because we do not know that there is a problem until it happens. At which point someone has to try to pin it down to a specific area of code based on the site not functioning as it should. If that is a crash where do you start looking? kolie has also improved the logging so he is able to identify some problems promptly and the rectify them. Others can only be fixed by restarting Rehash or whatever seems to be the most likely area of concern.
If you don't like the way the site works then put your money where you mouth is, step up, and start helping to (re)write the code. Don't just complain or criticise - do something positive and contribute.