The Privacy Iceberg

This is original content. AI was not used anywhere except for the bottom right image, simply because I could not find one similar enough to what I needed. This took around 6 hours to make.

Transcription (for the visually impaired)

(I tried my best)

The background is an iceberg with 6 levels, denoting 6 different levels of privacy.

The tip of the iceberg is titled “The Brainwashed” with a quote beside it that says “I have nothing to hide”. The logos depicted in this section are:

The surface section of the iceberg is titled “As seen on TV” with a quote beside it that says “This video is sponsored by…”. The logos depicted in this section are:

An underwater section of the iceberg is titled “The Beginner” with a quote beside it that says “I don’t like hackers and spying”. The logos depicted in this section are:

A lower section of the iceberg is titled “The Privacy Enthusiast” with a quote beside it that says “I have nothing I want to show”. The logos depicted in this section are:

An even lower section of the iceberg is titled “The Privacy Activist” with a quote beside it that says “Privacy is a human right”. The logos depicted in this section are:

The lowest portion of the iceberg is titled “The Ghost”. There is a quote beside it that has been intentionally redacted. The images depicted in this section are:

  • A cancel sign over a mobile phone, symbolizing “no electronics”
  • An illustration of a log cabin, symbolizing “living in a log cabin in the woods”
  • A picture of gold bars, symbolizing “paying only in gold”
  • A picture of a death certificate, symbolizing “faking your own death”
  • An AI generated picture of a person wearing a black hoodie, a baseball cap, a face mask, and reflective sunglasses, symbolizing “hiding ones identity in public”

End of transcription.

  • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
    244·
    2 days ago

    Sadly, using small niche VPNs that might be more trusted makes you stand out more. It’s pretty unusual to have a Mullvad user on your server

    They don’t rotate IPs as well so a lot of them are blacklisted… and don’t offer port forwarding anymore

    I wish they could change IPs reguarly and add port forwarding back :-( - I would happily pay for their service again

    Because 5€ for their current service is overpriced

    • dogs0n@sh.itjust.works
      9·
      2 days ago

      Sadly, using small niche VPNs that might be more trusted makes you stand out more.

      This probably doesn’t matter does it? Because being spotted as a mulvad, airvpn, etc user doesn’t make you more of a target for anything.

      It just means that if they try to trace your connection back to you, they won’t find anything out, because you have a trusted zero-logging vpn.

      Only think I could see is it could potentially be easier to track usage through the ip and assume it’s one person, but idk you could do that with anything if you look at the request timings, etc. It’s still just guesses.

      Am i missing something?

      It’s pretty unusual to have a Mullvad user on your server

      Probably not on the usual sites people visit (youtube, etc, the big sites 99% of ppl go to exclusively), but I can see your point for any smaller site.

      Because 5€ for their current service is overpriced

      Airvpn provide a discount for each extra month you sign up for in bulk which is nice. It’s a great service in my opinion.

      https://airvpn.org/

      • trashboat@midwest.socialEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        Sadly, using small niche VPNs that might be more trusted makes you stand out more.

        This probably doesn’t matter does it? Because being spotted as a mulvad, airvpn, etc user doesn’t make you more of a target for anything.

        I’m just taking a stab at this since I’m not entirely certain, but I would think that this would weaken you against fingerprinting since it depends on having many different semi-unique characteristics as you browse?

        • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
          2·
          1 day ago

          This ^

          If you have 2 accounts on a website for example, you can be easily exposed if using a niche VPN. If on a more popular VPN, it’s not as likely as some other users probably use those as well

          Realistically, on bigger websites it doesn’t matter as much - it would really depend on your config. You’re bound to be fingerprinted at some point anyways. It’s just too hard and too annoying to blend in.

          At this point I believe we should just aim at randomizing our fingerprint every few seconds by sending BS rather than aiming to all have the same one

    • RiQuY@lemm.ee
      7·
      2 days ago

      Check out IVPN, I find the service very similar but they also offer reverse split tunneling (choosing what programs go through the VPN).

        • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
          3·
          1 day ago

          Interesting option as well, but some problems :

          • Not audited iirc
          • Port forwarding leads to identification of the individual account, and facts about this aren’t really explained. They admitted than in case they receive a legal order against someone who has port forwarding, they must give the identity because they can get it.
            • Sure, changing ports frequently is a way around this but meh, I’d like to know what they will provide if that happens
          • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
            2·
            1 day ago

            I’ll add that their servers are a bit slow (I have a gigabit connection) and they don’t have a server in my country

      • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
        31·
        1 day ago

        Going to get hate for it (justified), but NordVPN

        Reasons: low price, and someone I know already had an account.

        Could switch but most VPNs don’t have what I’m looking for (port forwarding), as well as IPs that often change and a solid userbase to mask traffic in smaller websites

        Tested mullvad a few years ago and had some small connection problems, but the main issue was that it wasn’t usable in many websites due to their IPs being really abused (+ blocked from streaming services).

        • Brumefey@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          31·
          1 day ago

          I don’t get why the second layer of Op iceberg is solutions having strong marketing budget. As far as I know (correct me if I’m wrong) Nord VPN has been audited by 3rd parties which confirmed its no-log policy. Also feel more anonymous when using a mainstream VPN because many users share the same IP. On the contrary if you use a VPN where only 2 users are on the same IP, seems easier to track you. Maybe I’m wrong but the hate for NordVPN does not seems justified.

          • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
            2·
            1 day ago

            The hate is mainly because they run current anti consumer techniques, such as:

            • infinite fake sales (illegal is most countries)
            • misleading fear mongering (VPNs don’t bring much security at all, and aren’t the only tool you need to achieve anonymity at all. Most people don’t need a VPN.) but this has some positive impacts: normies use VPNs so they become more accepted
            • ultra aggressive misleading marketing: occasionally, false claims are made through sponsorships

            They are also in a country where they can legally not provide any info to anyone (also in case of legal problem I believe), but it is a double edged sword, as it also means they can lie and sell our info and will never get sued over it

            Such things makes it hard to trust, but the reality is they’re most likely fine to use because they already make a ton of money. They probably won’t risk to lose a business over this.