<
https://www.techdirt.com/2022/04/21/researchers-again-show-how-major-vpns-quietly-undermine-user-security/>
"Given the seemingly endless privacy scandals that now engulf the tech,
telecom, and adtech sectors on a near-daily basis, many consumers have flocked
to virtual private networks (VPN) to protect and encrypt their data. One study
found that VPN use quadrupled between 2016 and 2018 as consumers rushed to try
and protect themselves in the wake of scandals, breaches, and hacks.
Unfortunately, many consumers are flocking to VPNs under the mistaken
impression that such tools are a near-mystical panacea, acting as a sort of
bulletproof shield that protects them from any potential privacy violations on
the internet. Not only is that not true (ISPs, for example, have a universe of
ways to track you anyway), many VPN providers are even less ethical than
privacy-scandal-plagued companies or ISPs.
A
Consumer Reports study late last year took a look at 16 top VPN providers,
and found that the majority of them misrepresented their products or their data
retention practices, and many of the companies actually put consumer privacy at
greater risk. Only a quarter of the VPNs looked at clearly indicated how long
they retain user browsing and other data.
Other VPNs simply don’t provide particular stellar security, despite marketing
claiming that’s the entire reason they exist. For example, Surfshark, TurboVPN,
Sumrando VPN, and several other VPN providers were recently accused of
installing a trusted root certificate authority (CA) cert on user devices,
often without user knowledge or approval."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
