Re: [PLUG] Yipes! Those Web Ads are KILLING Me!

[Thomas Delrue via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On 3/31/21 08:38, LeRoy Cressy via plug wrote:
> It might be a good idea to use a VPN.

VPN's are not about privacy, VPN's are about ComSec. While they encrypt
"the pipe" between your endpoint and the VPN service to prevent prying
eyes, a VPN by itself doesn't do anything more than that. It changes
where you appear on the internet, and that's (mostly) it. Just turning
on a VPN will not make ads magically disappear, unless you explicitly
pick a VPN that applies censorship for you. And if they censor that, who
knows what else they may censor for you out of the 'goodness of their
hearts'.

VPN's may actually _decrease_ your privacy (depending on the provider)
because now you have to trust your VPN provider as well to not be
douche-ey and that field is way more wild-west-like than your ISP.
After all, the VPN provider does see everything that you pull through
that encrypted pipe and I wouldn't put it past (most of) them to not act
on that "unrealized profit".

While I have no love for ISPs, those are/can(/should) be regulated; VPN
providers... not so much at this point in time.
Don't confuse ComSec with privacy. Both are important, but realize they
are _different_ things!

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