Good VPN for Ubuntu?

[Welly Wu]

I would be much more concerned with who logs your information and data outside of the scope of your VPN service provider and how long they retain that data and what they ultimately use that data for which purposes than your VPN service provider logging all of your information.

You can choose another VPN service provider. You can choose another ISP. You can terminate your business with these companies.

However, you usually don't have full control over the 3rd parties involved when you do your business on the Internet or when you connect to another person's network environment like a business.

That's where they will get you.

Don't make the false assumption that VPN will protect you completely.

Logging is low level and low importance. What matters is who is after you and how can they get access to your data by connecting the dots back to you.

[Stonecold1995]

Look, it's the end points that matter. These end points are outside of the scope of any VPN service provider especially if you leave behind a digital trail of evidence to collect and analyze data about you. One example would be to use social media outlets while connected to any VPN service provider's VPN gateway as evidence that you commmited a crime. In the US, you can not threaten to kill the US president or vice president or the GOP running mate on Facebook and expect to get away with that crime.

That is completely irrelevant. Of course a VPN won't protect you from that, no matter what VPN you use. Even Tor won't protect you if you leave a trail of your activities.

Peer to peer file sharing is not the same as login credentials. We are talking about network traffic here. WiTopia has to log your login credentials so it knows when you use their service. This is considered to be within the realm of acceptable logging in the United States and a lot of other VPN service providers do this as well in other countries except for Sweden. What we are more concerned with here is what kind of monitoring, recording, and logging of user's network traffic happens in accordance to a specific VPN service providers' contract with its users and how that information and data is handled in the event of a digital investigation.

I am saying Sweden has more strict privacy laws, not that WiTopia has poor privacy laws. And US providers won't protect you "In the event of a digital investigation", whereas Swedish providers in general will.

WiTopia does not monitor or record your network traffic. This means that they don't keep tabs on me when I download or upload data even if it was copyrighted which I am not saying is happening here in my case or not. They clear their logs every Saturdays for maintenance.

Logging login credentials is pretty much useless information if you can not corroborate it with user's network activities and traffic.

I never said they keep tabs on what you are downloading. I do not know enough information on that specific VPN to say one way or another, I'm just going off what I read on their Privacy Policy. And they clean their logs every Saturday? OK, but you have to admit that's less secure than not keeping logs period.

You're making a bad assumption here. You're assuming that any type of logging is tantamount to monitoring and recording customer's network traffic data histories and you're assuming that all of those records get turned over to a court with a court order in the case of WiTopia. That is clearly not the case.

I never said that, and I don't assume it. I am saying Swedish VPNs don't have to hand over logs and aren't allowed to log. Let me say again, I never said WiTopia logs everything you do.

Finally, you have understand that it's your ISP that you should be much more concerned about. In the United States, most of the major ISPs do record and monitor their customer's network traffic and the MPAA and RIAA have agreements in place to alert and warn their customers of copyright infringment which could lead to law suits. VPN does not protect against this type of illegal behavior regardless of which VPN service provider because a lot of network traffic passes through the United States of America through a complex mesh of nodes and end points that you're not aware of.

This is the nature of P2P architecture. You have no idea who is sharing that data with you and where it traverses throughout the world.

I understand that. That's one of the main purposes of a VPN. The thing you aren't understanding is that most VPNs use encryption, which prevents ISPs from logging information. That's what I use a VPN for, to protect me from my VPN. I completely understand that a lot of network traffic goes through many servers we can't be aware of, but I also understand that encryption will prevent logging of personal information, because all personal information that goes through these relays and ISPs are encrypted, usually with BlowFish, which is a quite secure encryption algorithm.

VPNs also don't protect you if you register personally identifiable information on a web site that is not fully encrypted and located outside of the US and has its traffic routed outside of the US completely. This is an extreme example and it is an isolated case.

That has nothing to do with a VPN's privacy laws.

Bottom line: VPNs are useful for privacy and security, but don't think that you can't be attacked while connected to a VPN gateway by visiting malicious websites. VPNs don't control any data that is collected, analyzed, and eventually used to pinpoint users' location and activities outside of their entry and exit gateways. I would be much more concerned about this fact than a VPN service provider who logs all of my data.

Who said anything about malicious websites? A VPN will encrypt data, it will not block someone from giving out personal info. Again, this is completely off-topic. There is no VPN in the world that will prevent such a thing.

I got news for you. Sweden is cracking down on copyright infringment. It won't be long before it bows to pressure from foreign governments and organizations to log users network traffic and identities. Don't make the assumption that connecting to a VPN service provider in Sweden guarantees anonymity, privacy, or security. That's a big caveat that's hard to ignore now that the Pirate Bay and its affiliates are getting hammered in courts worldwide.

When did I say a Swedish VPN "guarantees anonymity"? I said they have better privacy laws than the US. I understand that they are cracking down, but does that mean they automatically have worse privacy than the US? Yes, it is hard to ignore, and when I need to do simple web browsing that I don't trust my VPN to be safe enough, I'll use Tor, on the Tails OS, and with FireFox with NoScript, etc.

Last thing: How is saying that Sweden has better privacy laws than US spreading misinformation? And how is saying US based VPNs are able to log user data (again, I'm not saying WiTopia is one of those) spreading FUD?

Please, let's end this conversation before it gets even more off-topic. The bottom line is, Sweden has better privacy laws then the US. I don't understand why you object so much to my recommendation of an offshore VPN over a US based VPN.

[Stonecold1995]

Dude, why are you freaking out so much about this? This is not a competition on who knows most about privacy laws! This is not the place to continue this discussion either. Please, take your own advise and stop going off topic! I love discussions about internet privacy, but this here is not the time and place. I do not want this to become a debate on the best privacy practices either. This is a VPN recommendation thread. If you want people to discuss paranoia-level internet security I suggest you look on the deep web.

I don't care who knows more about security. I. Do. Not. Care. I will not answer your "tests" of how much I know. I am not trying to claim Swedish VPNs are bulletproof either, and that they don't ever log whatsoever, and that they will all protect you even if you are as high a profile target as The Pirate Bay. Even the RBN wasn't totally bulletproof!

Now, before this thread gets locked or we get warnings, please, stop arguing about this. Frankly, I don't give a d*mn whether WiTopia logs or not, and I don't give a d*mn whether you or I has more knowledge. The only reason I entered this thread was to recommend a few VPNs, and to mention that Swedish VPNs typically have better privacy than US VPNs, not to be confrontational!


Also, yes, I am a Swedish citizen. I have a European citizenship. Although you are correct, I do not currently live in Sweden.

[Welly Wu]

This is going to be the last time that I reply to you in this thread.

You are making a very big assumption of which you have absolutely no first hand knowledge or proof of: Sweden does not log user information or data. You don't live in Sweden. You are not a Swedish citizen. You are not subject to Swedish laws, rules, or regulations. I know this about you. Yet, the Swedish courts have convicted the founders of the Pirate Bay and their affiliates of copyright infringment and other laws. They have taken down the Pirate Bay and their other peer to peer websites that hawk copyrighted materials. How do you think this was possible? Do you even know the details? I don't presume to know all of the details as I have not read the sealed court paper work.

You can not make a sweeping generalization about the United States and Sweden based upon your cursory knowledge of a very few number of their laws.

Look, tell the truth if you are going to have this conversation with me. At least be honest. Do you have any idea if your ISP or VPN or anyone else for that matter are investigating you specifically or not?

This is the true test of whether you know your stuff or not.

I paid a private investigator to go through my records which I supplied to him to see if I am under investigation last month. I am not under investigation.

Swedish ISPs and VPNs may or may not log customer records depending upon who is asking for them. You and I have no way to get that information because we are not officials related to law enforcement or government requesting such records about specific targets in an investigation. What I am saying is that it is clear to me that the founders of the Pirate Bay got caught for peddling copyrighted materials hosted in Sweden.

How do you think that happened that lead to their convictions in Swedish courts?

Tell me the answer to this question and I will tell you that your notion that Sweden does not log customer records is patently false.

The founders and members of the Pirate Bay used Swedish ISPs and VPNs as well as others located worldwide and they got caught and convicted under Swedish law. Think about how that happened under your premises to see if your assumptions are correct and in line with reality or not.

Then, get back to me and tell me the answer to my question. It will pertain to your assumption that Sweden does not log customer records.

Do your homework.

[Welly Wu]

I just wanted to say that I have nothing against you personally as I don't even know who you are or what your character is. Don't hold this as a grudge against me. I am not trying to single you out. If I came across as inflammatory, then please forgive me and let's move onward.

I just had to challenge some of your assumptions because they sounded off to me.

Another good VPN service provider that I can recommend is CyberGhost VPN. They are based in Romania and they have entry and exit VPN gateways in Germany and Holland. These countries typically do not monitor and record customer records unless you participate in a digital crime that prompts an investigation by their authorities. They are expensive and they have a limited number of VPN gateways, but they do offer services catered toward GNU/Linux users if you pay for their services. I have recommended it to a friend of mine and they do offer a free VPN service, but it is quite slow and there are a lot of advertisements. CyberGhost VPN does not log your customer records to the best of my knowledge, but I may be wrong on that so it is best to check with them directly to make sure.

[Stonecold1995]

I just had to challenge some of your assumptions because they sounded off to me.

I was just giving out a rule of thumb, that Sweden currently has better privacy laws than the US. I never meant to claim Sweden was perfect and the US sucks, or that Swedish VPNs give perfect anonymity and US VPNs always log, and I apologize if I came off that way.

But yes, let's move on.

[johnnytucats]

I've been using iVPN.net for a few months. It's not perfect, I guess, but it's good considering price & features.

[KegHead]

Hi!

This is great info!

I've set up my network manager in Xubuntu correctly but have no free VPN to connect to.


Anyone?

Thanks!

KegHead

[KegHead]

Hi!

I'm using the following:

UKVPN.NewFreeVPN.COM

Anyone with comments or help?

Thanks!

KegHead

[sammiev]

Hi!

I'm using the following:

UKVPN.NewFreeVPN.COM

Anyone with comments or help?

Thanks!

KegHead

I seen this before. UserID free, Password 1234, On too many sites with the same userid and password. I would think it's the same person who opens a site every other week and closes the others. I would think use at your own risk!