this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
770 points (99.1% liked)

Technology

59235 readers
3412 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] blegeg@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm not an expert but I think : The site you visit only sees the VPNs info. Which is how you maintain some anonymity while browsing. However, if your VPN keeps logs, then you can still be tracked, just at a different place. Some say they don't keep logs, and you'd have to trust that.

RAM is considered volatile memory, so each time the server turns off, it loses all data. This is compared to disk (hard drives of whatever type) which retain memory even if the server turns off.

In theory, this ram only server prevents them from keeping logs (like which user went where) since the server wouldn't even have a place to store it.

Edit: lustrums post is more accurate and has info that this doesn't prevent logging per se, but could prevent accidental logging. I.e. they can't hire a forensic computer specialist to parse through operating system logs to try to find info they didn't otherwise log elsewhere.

[–] t0m5k1@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The site you visit only sees the VPNs info. Which is how you maintain some anonymity while browsing.

A VPN just changes your IP, all your browser info is still visible to the website.

[–] trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It does hide where your traffic is going to the ISP, no?

Mullvad also has their own browser that has some security features that prevent fingerprinting while also keeping an okay level of usability.

[–] t0m5k1@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, all the ISP will see is the vpn tunnel. If you don't trust the ISP why are you with them?

When you access a website with https the ISP will not see what happens inside that connection as it too is encrypted.

If you run your own DNS server that uses root hints the ISP will see even less.

By using a vpn you're placing your trust on the provider and there is nothing stopping them filtering the outbound connection from all their VPN endpoints to collect and sell the meta data your hiding from you ISP.

All VPN providers just talk about logging but nothing about meta data collection, funny that 🤔

[–] trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You live in a world where you should not use the internet ever

[–] t0m5k1@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Chances are I was online before you was even a thought.

Helps if you keep an eye on the bigger picture that vpn is a tiny part of.

[–] trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

chances are i had sex with your mom lol

[–] t0m5k1@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Good try, she's dead. Thanks.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Some say they don’t keep logs, and you’d have to trust that. Note that this same caveat applies for a VPN provider promising they are running diskless endpoints. Or that they don't have some third party monitoring their stuff even if diskless. Or that a law enforcement agency can't come along with a warrant to require them to monitor an account's activity moving forward, even if logs are not possible.

If your online activity justifies this level of paranoia, there's probably no meaningful protection available for your wants in practice. If your provider is operating in a jurisdiction that is problematic for your online activity, they can probably ultimately be compromised. If you are just using it to access a different country's streaming library, you probably don't need to be that paranoid. If you are trying to disguise illegal activity that is illegal in the jurisdiction of the VPN endpoint, well you are likely boned with logging or not.