this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025
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Technology

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Can you trust your VPN? How Facebook turned a VPN into a surveillance engine (www.msn.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social to c/technology@lemmy.zip
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[–] AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Can you trust your VPN?

A comprehensive checklist:

  • Is your VPN completely free?

  • Has your VPN a referral program with discount codes and money if a friend joins?

  • Is your VPN sponsorized by big streamers?

The more "yes" you find in that list, the less you should trust your VPN.

  • Is your VPN audited?

  • Can you access those audits?

  • Can you pay in anonymous currencies (cash or crypto)?

  • Can you track them to their real parent company?

The more "no" you find in that list, the less you should trust your VPN.

If your VPN checks all the wrong answers, you should dump it ASAP (if you are worried about privacy).

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

The first one should be the other way around. (As the Ukrainian proverb says, the only free cheese is in the mousetrap.)

[–] AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago

If a product is free, you are the product.

[–] chaosCruiser 3 points 2 weeks ago

The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Its free if you can find a mouse willing to take one for the team.

[–] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Meta subsidiaries were fined a combined AUD 20 million for deceptive conduct, a rare example of Big Tech being held accountable.

Facebook wanted to buy Snapchat for 3 billion, and who knows how much Meta nets in a year now. AUD 20 million is peanuts and NOT holding them accountable. That’s the equivalent of a $100 speeding ticket for a rich person. It’s the price of doing business.