Bleaney
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2021
- Messages
- 1,673
It seems that out internet providers are free to sell our data (or internet history) to whoever wants to buy it. That could be the government and related agencies, it could be advertisers wanting to sell us things.
Simply switching your main home page or internet search engine from Google to DuckGoGo can make a difference, as Duck's privacy practices are a lot better than Google's.
Furthermore, depending on which You Tube videos you watch, many say that a good Virtual Private Network will protect you from some of the widespread data mining that goes on. Maybe the jury is still out on this as there are plenty of other videos saying VPNs don't help, (I've not watched many of these anti VPN videos as the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that some of these people saying this could have been paid off to make those videos)
I started a free trial of a VPN a couple of months ago, and found it totally worth using simply for the pleasure of being able to watch You Tube with no adverts alone. I can now just hook my computer up to my TV, stick something interesting on YouTube and be able to sit back and relax in comfort, without having to wait for long ads for the video to even start, and after that have to move every 90 seconds to click an advert away. That is bloody annoying every 90 seconds when you've just got comfortable. (My cordless mouse doesn't work too great just a few feet away from my pc so I have to move slightly nearer for it to work.) Or if you're listening to You Tube whilst wanting to do other things like washing the dishes - it's not really feasible with all those adverts.
The VPN also allows me to use torrent sites again. Which I couldn't do for a few years after they all started getting blocked, apart from an excellent torrent site for audiobooks, which weirdly has never been blocked by my ISPs. Maybe it's flying under the radar.
I've also switched to using a more private email provider for certain things.
These are all small things we can do when using the clearnet.
I've forked out for an annual subscription of a VPN, it wasn't much money, and it seems worth it to me. Works out cheaper than YouTube's Premium membership, which you pay them to watch with no adverts.
But is there anyone here that has good knowledge about this stuff? Do good VPNs help with individuals privacy or not? (I gather that some VPNs are better than others, they are not all the same. Some can help, some may mine and sell your data even more than not having a VPN at all?)
Simply switching your main home page or internet search engine from Google to DuckGoGo can make a difference, as Duck's privacy practices are a lot better than Google's.
Furthermore, depending on which You Tube videos you watch, many say that a good Virtual Private Network will protect you from some of the widespread data mining that goes on. Maybe the jury is still out on this as there are plenty of other videos saying VPNs don't help, (I've not watched many of these anti VPN videos as the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that some of these people saying this could have been paid off to make those videos)
I started a free trial of a VPN a couple of months ago, and found it totally worth using simply for the pleasure of being able to watch You Tube with no adverts alone. I can now just hook my computer up to my TV, stick something interesting on YouTube and be able to sit back and relax in comfort, without having to wait for long ads for the video to even start, and after that have to move every 90 seconds to click an advert away. That is bloody annoying every 90 seconds when you've just got comfortable. (My cordless mouse doesn't work too great just a few feet away from my pc so I have to move slightly nearer for it to work.) Or if you're listening to You Tube whilst wanting to do other things like washing the dishes - it's not really feasible with all those adverts.
The VPN also allows me to use torrent sites again. Which I couldn't do for a few years after they all started getting blocked, apart from an excellent torrent site for audiobooks, which weirdly has never been blocked by my ISPs. Maybe it's flying under the radar.
I've also switched to using a more private email provider for certain things.
These are all small things we can do when using the clearnet.
I've forked out for an annual subscription of a VPN, it wasn't much money, and it seems worth it to me. Works out cheaper than YouTube's Premium membership, which you pay them to watch with no adverts.
But is there anyone here that has good knowledge about this stuff? Do good VPNs help with individuals privacy or not? (I gather that some VPNs are better than others, they are not all the same. Some can help, some may mine and sell your data even more than not having a VPN at all?)
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