People are simply swapping the point of spying. A VPN just adds latency in my opinion.
You are assuming that 100% of VPN services are compromised. That's unlikely. Even if they are, I still like the idea of my ISP/google/and the rest of them not having a live record of everything I do online,
100% don't have to be compromised if the entire global internet backbone is and if all software and hardware is backdoored.
You cannot accomplish anonymity with anything less than an old used computer purchased second hand with cash and no paperwork. Never connect it to any wifi or local network that you touch yourself. Only boot Tails on it, never windows. Physically remove the webcam and microphone on it. And quite frankly never store it anywhere on or in your property when not using. Also a long range wifi antenna so you can be far away when using public wifi to avoid the security cameras around such wifi points.
Anything less is just masturbation.
Typical "all or nothing" response. You sound like every programmer I've ever met except two. That's bullshit. There are gradients. It's fucking idiotic to think normal people are going to take those measures. It's like a heart surgeon telling people "just perform heart surgery on your uncle, he really needs it." They don't know how, and have no context/experience around the body of knowledge. It ain't gonna happen.
All you are doing is preventing people from taking common sense measures that would literally break the backs of tech companies for the sake of perfect security that all but 0.001% of the population can figure out how to do. You aren't doing anyone favors by posting this bullshit. If you can't post a step by step guide that takes under an hour to complete (ideally 15 minutes), no one is going to do it.
Yes, if you are actively being targeted by intelligence agencies, you would need extreme measures, but ISPs that want to sell your information because it's legal now, or tech companies like Google that want to spy on you, and package that information up for sale and to hand over to agencies, a VPN and basic browser security are just fine. You don't need a tank if a slingshot will do in 99% of cases. Sure, if you are buying metric tons of cocaine from the darkweb, but most people just need basic privacy.
I think people should learn to use bootable tails USB sticks though. They've done a pretty good job making a secure OS/browser that's relatively easy to use. The only real issue with usability is people might have to know how to change the boot order in their BIOS. That's again over 99% of peoples' heads, unfortunately.
Add to that, some services check for VPN servers and won't work if they recognize you're using a VPN. However, I understand your reasoning. I suppose it would be useful if you constantly switched VPN servers so your IP address wasn't useful to anyone.
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