I mean it's just like Look, if I were running this kind of VPN, I would absolutely keep logs The more I advertised I was the kind of VPN that didn't keep logs, the more I absolutely would keep logs The same reason a drug dealer absolutely does want dirt on their customers
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
Because I'm making myself the target for the feds to go after if they indeed decide to go after someone And if I actually keep my promises then I have nothing to hand over to them to keep my own ass out of trouble The VPN's incentives are completely opposed to their customers'
2 replies 1 retweet 20 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
I think the point in the end is that VPNs are taking advantage of this middle-class consumer naivete The whole idea of their business is they're presenting themselves as someone you can trust on a personal level, someone altruistic who wants to fight for privacy for its own sake
1 reply 6 retweets 20 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
And it's just like Why would you think that That's such an incredibly dangerous thing to think about anyone It's one of the oldest and most basic scams in the book "Listen, buddy, this is a shady business you're dealing in, let me take the risks for you"
3 replies 3 retweets 20 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
Remember the whole big scandal when people found out the Tor network had been built by the US government in the first place, and that the NSA was actively using it as one of their most effective surveillance toolshttps://pando.com/2014/07/16/tor-spooks/ …
2 replies 10 retweets 24 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect
I figured people who used Tor knew about its history with the Navy. Never knew there was a "scandal".
1 reply 0 retweets 6 likes -
Replying to @BrentonPoke
The Freedom Hosting and Silk Road busts were both really big deals, and both things that weren't really that big a surprise if you actually know how Tor works but took a lot of naive people off-guard
2 replies 2 retweets 12 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
Like, for those who don't know: Tor *anonymizes* online interactions but it does not *hide* online interactions All it is is a mask I'm wearing, it makes it impossible to trace my activity to my IP address and my physical computer Everything else you can still see
1 reply 1 retweet 12 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
And, in fact, if you're running the Tor node yourself, you can actively see everything that's happening in that node You don't know who they are but the fact that they're using Tor means they're probably using it to do something illicit It's a perfect honeytrap
1 reply 1 retweet 13 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
Like, to use a strained meatspace analogy -- If I ran a cab service where I picked people up from a hidden station and everyone wears masks so I don't know where anybody's house is... it's still a great way to spy on you Knowing where your house is is not the issue
1 reply 1 retweet 9 likes
"Huh, who are all these people willing to go to all this effort to be driven somewhere without the driver knowing where they live And they're all asking to be driven to this one house, whose address I *do* know and can record I think that house might be a drug dealer house"
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
"Oh, and they don't seem to be aware I can hear what they're saying while they're in the car, and when they call ahead to the drug dealer's house and get in a conversation, I can hear that and I can try to figure out their identity based on the things they say"
1 reply 1 retweet 8 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BrentonPoke
Like, shit, the government running a bunch of Tor nodes themselves and using the Tor nodes as a way to gather data on where people on the Internet are buying drugs or trading child pornography was *the most predictable thing* They'd be idiots not to do it
0 replies 1 retweet 16 likes
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