https://www.cnet.com/news/vpn-protec...s-complicated/Your internet service provider can sell your browsing history to the highest bidder.That's the creepy truth internet users in the US woke up to on Wednesday morning. And it's spurring them to check out tools that can hide their browsing histories and disguise their internet traffic. On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives voted to kill Federal Communications Commission rules that would have stopped ISPs from selling this data. Later that night, Google searches in the US for a tool called a VPN (short for virtual private network) spiked to a five-year high, according to Google Trends. Journalists and cybersecurity experts also chattered about VPNs on Twitter.
The uptick in searches (which is relative, and likely doesn't mean everyone on the internet is seeking out a VPN) matched a broader, somewhat manic response to Congress' actions. One man is offering to sell his internet browsing history on eBay, so that he can benefit from this apparent commodity. Another ticked-off internet user started a campaign to buy the internet histories of legislators and a bunch of other people to make them publicly searchable.
Fatemeh Khatibloo, a principal analyst at tech research firm Forrester who focuses on privacy, pointed out that nothing has actually changed about the way ISPs treat your data. That's because the FCC rules hadn't gone into effect yet. But if you're feeling creeped out, you might be wondering: What's a VPN, anyway? And will it keep the Comcasts, Verizons and other internet service providers of the world out of your business? Well, it's complicated. "People have to, unfortunately, take privacy matters into their own hands," said Ajay Arora, CEO of cybersecurity company Vera. "There's no silver bullet." Problem solved?
A VPN redirects your internet traffic, disguising where your computer, phone or other device is when it makes contact with websites. It also encrypts information you send across the internet, making it unreadable to anyone who intercepts your traffic. That includes your internet service provider. Ha! Problem solved -- right? Well, sort of. The big catch is, now the VPN has your internet traffic and browsing history, instead of your ISP. What's to stop the VPN from selling your information to the highest bidder? O privacy, where art thou?
Of course, there are reputable VPN services out there, but it's incumbent on you the user to "do your homework," Arora said. In addition to making sure the VPN will actually keep your data private, you'll want to make sure there's nothing shady in the terms and conditions. Shady how? Well, in 2015, a group of security-minded coders discovered that free VPN service Hola was selling its users' bandwidth to the paying customers of its Luminati service. That meant some random person could have been using your internet connection to do something illegal. So, shady like that. "I would recommend you do some cursory level research in terms of reputation [and] how long they've been around," Arora said, "And when you sign up, read the fine print." The second catch is that you have to set up the VPN on your own, on all your devices that connect to the internet. You might even need different VPN services for different devices. Then you have to make sure you're connecting through a VPN at all times. How big of a catch that is depends on how tech-savvy you are and how much time you have on your hands. Plenty of VPN users don't flip on the service unless they want to protect specific browsing sessions, said David Gorodyansky, CEO of privacy technology company AnchorFree. He said 80 percent of the time, most people don't care about privacy, like when they're on Facebook. But the other 20 percent of the time is when they care about their privacy and they're more likely to use a VPN app. This could be when they're googling a personal topic. "When people are searching online or downloading anything about their health, wealth or family, that's when they care about their privacy and download and use the app," he said. Khatibloo, the Forrester analyst, said even though nothing has really changed in how ISPs are allowed to treat your data, Congress' actions have made people care more about privacy. "This ruling has shined a light on carriers' and ISPs' data practices," Khatibloo said in an email, "and we expect that will mean an uptick in the number of consumers changing how they do things -- VPNs, the Tor browser, and HTTPS Everywhere." Those last two tools also disguise internet traffic -- and they're not any easier to use than a VPN.
Comment
Andy117
SBR Hall of Famer
02-07-10
9511
#24469
Originally posted by brooks85
it doesn't matter, unlike you I didn't lie about the events. It's hilarious you're acting like a child instead of just accepting you got destroyed in that thread then panicked and cherry picked 1 of your 4 quotes. Then you panicked and said that wasn't cherry picking... lol... all while still not accepting the fact, according to your own quotes, trump was talking THE global warming scam.
andy, you lose again and again. I honestly feel pity for you when I get you to embarrass yourself like this.
I picked four random quotes, one of them contained the words you said Trump NEVER said. One is more than NEVER. The only panic here is by you.
Comment
Andy117
SBR Hall of Famer
02-07-10
9511
#24470
Originally posted by brooks85
^hey coward why are you running still? oh you're a liberal
why don't you support trump again?
lol this is always funny
No one runs from you. Why do you insist on saying such nonsense?
Comment
JIBBBY
SBR Aristocracy
12-10-09
83686
#24471
Originally posted by chico2663
jibby i can't wait til mohammed buys a new t.v. on your credit card. Brooks is to stupid to do research but that was just passed.
Funny credit card fraud is massive right now.. I've been compromised on 2 cards just this year.. Very disturbing...
Luckily my credit card companies went to bat for me.. I live in California and dozens of big charges went thru in NY... I haven't been to NY in years lol...
Muhammad is getting rich off credit card fraud... Even these new credit card chips aren't bullet proof.. I order alot of goods off Amazon and other so called secure websites but still I'm convinced my cards got compromised online...
Becareful!!!! I'm a bit cautious now to use my creediit caardsss online.... I only use one card now and keep a close eye on the charges..
Comment
JIBBBY
SBR Aristocracy
12-10-09
83686
#24472
Originally posted by Andy117
You weren't around for the origin of that post.
As far as your article, Trump and his new head of the EPA would have us become more like China not less when it comes to polution.
I doubt that... China is a pollution pit... USA will never come to that.. Still too many clean emissions in place..
Americans would never stand for this below.. NEVER...
Comment
JIBBBY
SBR Aristocracy
12-10-09
83686
#24473
Pollution in China is absurd!!!. Breathe, Breathe in the air, don't be afraid to care....
Forward to 2:25 of this music video..
Comment
Andy117
SBR Hall of Famer
02-07-10
9511
#24474
Originally posted by JIBBBY
I doubt that... China is a pollution pit... USA will never come to that.. Still too many clean emissions in place..
Americans would never stand for this below.. NEVER...
We'll see, Pruitt is not someone who seems to care about the environment.
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103607
#24475
Originally posted by chico2663
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103607
#24476
Originally posted by jtoler
The short answer is yes.
Comment
chico2663
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
09-02-10
36915
#24477
funny how trump got elected on jobs but has neg. effect on them.
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103607
#24478
Originally posted by chico2663
funny how trump got elected on jobs but has neg. effect on them.
even funnier that you actually said that.
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103607
#24479
Comment
JIBBBY
SBR Aristocracy
12-10-09
83686
#24480
^^ More corporate corruption in the Democrat party then most know.. No secret really just look at the Clinton Foundation.. When Bill left office they were basically broke, now they are worth almost as much as Trump.. All off innocent speeches and charity donations.. YEAH RIGHT!!!
This is another reason why Hillary didn't win the election.. DRAIN THE FRIGG'N SWAMP!!!!
She should be in jail...
Comment
Shafted69
SBR Hall of Famer
07-04-08
6412
#24481
Comment
chico2663
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
09-02-10
36915
#24482
Originally posted by DwightShrute
even funnier that you actually said that.
Funnier that you have never been to the states but are his biggest supporter,
Comment
Shafted69
SBR Hall of Famer
07-04-08
6412
#24483
Comment
DwightShrute
SBR Aristocracy
01-17-09
103607
#24484
Originally posted by chico2663
Funnier that you have never been to the states but are his biggest supporter,
yup and I couldn't even find it on a map if my life depended on it.
Comment
chico2663
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
09-02-10
36915
#24485
Originally posted by DwightShrute
yup and I couldn't even find it on a map if my life depended on it.
How much do they pay you to be a troll?
Comment
chico2663
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
09-02-10
36915
#24486
brooks was arrested?MCDONALD’S EMPLOYEE ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING 80 LBS OF MCNUGGETS IN HIS ANAL CAVITY
Comment
JIBBBY
SBR Aristocracy
12-10-09
83686
#24487
Who's your President? Trump is!!! Live with it and enjoy America's success...
Comment
SteelRain
SBR MVP
03-13-12
2806
#24488
Originally posted by chico2663
I love this so fukkin much. Trump gutting Liberal brainwashing institutions like a fish
The United States taxpayers should not be funding Marxist brainwashing outlets
What's even more delicious is that ultra rich billionaire libshits like Zuckerberg and Bezos can easily pick up the tab but refuse to do so hahahahaha
Comment
brooks85
SBR Aristocracy
01-05-09
44709
#24489
Originally posted by chico2663
lol chico proving his low IQ again
EPA is not "jobs" you moron.
Comment
RoyBacon
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
09-21-05
37074
#24490
Keystone Pipeline 35? chico do you have to pretend to be this gullible when you read this leftist propaganda? How do you dumb yourself down to accept this?
Liberals are losing their minds when they see Trump get jobs where Obama failed. But their propaganda would seem to insult their own intelligence.
Comment
SteelRain
SBR MVP
03-13-12
2806
#24491
Originally posted by RoyBacon
But their propaganda would seem to insult their own intelligence.
This is a very good point. A lot these dumb liberals swallow their own bullshit whole. It's how Hillary got creamed in the electoral college. Media pump up fake news of how Hillary was a lock. Made millions of potential Hillary voters stay home in swing states. Liberals are their own worst enemy and I love watching them crash and burn every time.
Comment
Cuse0323
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
12-09-09
30169
#24492
Originally posted by RoyBacon
Keystone Pipeline 35? chico do you have to pretend to be this gullible when you read this leftist propaganda? How do you dumb yourself down to accept this?
Liberals are losing their minds when they see Trump get jobs where Obama failed. But their propaganda would seem to insult their own intelligence.
That one cracked me up when I read 35, and 40 for the Pipelines. That's pretty damn efficient, if so.
Someone pulled numbers out of their ass. I always enjoy checking into this thread for a nice laugh.
Comment
rkelly110
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
10-05-09
39691
#24493
Originally posted by SteelRain
This is a very good point. A lot these dumb liberals swallow their own bullshit whole. It's how Hillary got creamed in the electoral college. Media pump up fake news of how Hillary was a lock. Made millions of potential Hillary voters stay home in swing states. Liberals are their own worst enemy and I love watching them crash and burn every time.
No one in America gives a fuk what you think. Maybe worry about your own worthless country. Better yet do something about it.
Comment
rkelly110
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
10-05-09
39691
#24494
Originally posted by brooks85
lol chico proving his low IQ again
EPA is not "jobs" you moron.
I guess your state 'job' isn't a job either. At least not a 'job' in the REAL sense. Sitting on your ass all day stealing
time from the 'real' hard workers of your state isn't a job, it's a waste, which you are.
Comment
brooks85
SBR Aristocracy
01-05-09
44709
#24495
Originally posted by rkelly110
I guess your state 'job' isn't a job either. At least not a 'job' in the REAL sense. Sitting on your ass all day stealing
time from the 'real' hard workers of your state isn't a job, it's a waste, which you are.
if you could ever post the truth for once in your life you would be right but lets not deal in hypotheticals.
you're a moron and you posted something that proves you're a moron; again.
Comment
rkelly110
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
10-05-09
39691
#24496
Those who yell the loudest are the most guilty, eh Mikey Flynn? Asking for immunity.
Gotta love it when karma comes back around.
Comment
brooks85
SBR Aristocracy
01-05-09
44709
#24497
Originally posted by rkelly110
Those who yell the loudest are the most guilty, eh Mikey Flynn? Asking for immunity.
Gotta love it when karma comes back around.
which is exactly why you keep coming back here day after day for no other reason than to prove you're an idiot. lol you make this too easy.
how many times have you said something only to be the example of it? I've lost count, has to be over 100.
Comment
rkelly110
BARRELED IN @ SBR!
10-05-09
39691
#24498
Originally posted by brooks85
which is exactly why you keep coming back here day after day for no other reason than to prove you're an idiot. lol you make this too easy.
how many times have you said something only to be the example of it? I've lost count, has to be over 100.
You do it in every post and today is Friday.
Comment
SteelRain
SBR MVP
03-13-12
2806
#24499
Originally posted by rkelly110
Maybe worry about your own worthless country.
I'm American. Hold American citizenship. Voted in the last 3 elections. What are you harking on you senile old man?
Edit: I want to add something. rkelly reply is really telling. He cannot refute one iota of what I said. Because he knows deep down inside I'm 100% right. Hillary got BTFO because the media shilled for her hard and implictily told tens of million of her potential voters to stay home. rkelly knows this to be true. Hence why he is seething with rage lmao
Comment
brooks85
SBR Aristocracy
01-05-09
44709
#24500
Originally posted by rkelly110
You do it in every post and today is Friday.
this desperation isn't going to save you. The past 10 days or so the rate at which you've made yourself look like an idiot first thing in the morning has jumped. Usually it's about once a week but right now you're at 4/7 days lol
you can bitch and moan but it won't help you dodge the fact you proved you're a moron again this morning.