If it’s a big tech company never trust them completely they will always carve out exceptions for them but still crank up the privacy settings the vendor gives you, and Apple is better then Google or Microsoft for sure.
I have Advanced Data Protection on and Proton VPN.
I would check to see if ExpressVPN is even trustworthy. A few years ago, it became clear that most VPN’s were owned by a single vendor who didn’t disclose this in their advertising. Would you trust that vendor? Do you know what log files they create and how they dispose of them? Have you seen an audit of their process and code by someone credible? …
I wouldn’t use a VPN without having answered those questions. Personally I use a VPN when away from home
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VPN vs an AdBlocker:
Both have limitations and due to browser fingerprinting an AdBlocker may strangely reduce your anonymity.
As of September 2021, ExpressVPN is owned by Kape Technologies, a global cybersecurity firm.
Kape owns VPN services and cybersecurity tools, including CyberGhost, Private Internet Access (PIA), ZenMate, ExpressVPN, and Intego.
Source: Wikipedia
Okay thanks. I use 1Blocker. When I’m on my Mac and check LittleSnitch 6 my location is always set in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which isn’t my actual location, of course. So doesn’t that mean that 1Blocker is also sort of doing what a more traditional VPN service is doing.
I also have iCloud Private Relay turned off as the 1Blocker people told me that didn’t necessarily work well with 1Blocker I recall and it sort of did the same but 1Blcoker did it better
Thanks!! Never heard of that, sounds like a great place to take a vacation. Does that imply that my ISP can’t tell my location either?
AFAIK an ISP knows where all their customers connect to their network, the IP and MAC address of each device as well as the amount of data being sent and received.
If the customer is not using a VPN they would also have access to all their DNS queries and all the locations they visit, etc. That’s just the basics I know from running a company network. An ISP may be able to gather a lot more information than that.
I’m not an expert in networking, just a recovering software developer (which means I think I know everything).
Your ISP knows your connected - 100%.
Even if you use a VPN it can make some very good guesses about what you’re doing. Your traffic has a “shape”, based on volume in each direction and other details.
So for example, if you were perhaps torrenting a few movies (cough, cough), the shape of that traffic would fit a pattern.
If they want to guess what you’re doing, technically they could.
As for VPNs, they still have an exit node. A good attacker might find a way to monitor network traffic at your exit node. At that stage they could spy on the traffic in the same way that your ISP could.
We could play some more. My thought, you’re guarding against an adversary of a certain skill level. No matter how many layers, a good attacker my get information about you that you thought was secure.
Very bad place for a vacation. Check out the link.
Your ISP will always think you are at home. However if you run your own VPN server at home, you can be away from home and your ISP (and any site you visit) will think you are still at home.
I agree. If reports are true even TOR users have been identified by monitoring both the individuals and TOR exit nodes and matching the data flow.
Just a quick note on VPNs. I use one, but I’ve switched a couple of times after learning that the VPN provider was selling data to brokers—even though I was paying for the service. So, when choosing a VPN, be very careful. If VPNs are being hawked by influencers (Yeah, Rober, I’m looking at you) that’s no guarantee of true security and privacy. So far I’m happy with the VPN that Proton (of Proton Mail fame) offers. But, vigilance is the price of privacy (or something like that).
Which ones did you stop using after finding out they were selling your data?
Curious about that as well! I trust 1Blocker, but I don’t know
I’m also living on “Null island” according to Little Snitch 6, but https://www.whatismyip.com correctly shows in which city I live, if don’t enable a VPN.
You might want to check that yourself.
Your ISP most likely knows the exact street and house number from when you registered for their service?
Just tried it. No change either way
CloudFlare WARP clearly states on their help page that “WARP does not provide anonymity and is not designed to prevent servers you communicate with from identifying you.” While WARP can protect your traffic from being monitored by your ISP (which is particularly relevant in countries like the USA, where ISPs can track and sell your browsing data), it won’t prevent websites from profiling or fingerprinting you through your IP address.
On the other hand, a VPN can shield both your ISP and websites by hiding your traffic and IP address. VPNs used to be slow and cumbersome, but with advancements like the WireGuard protocol, they’ve become much faster and more reliable. Some websites, like Google, may repeatedly prompt you for verification while using a VPN, but if you don’t rely on Google services, you might hardly notice your VPN is even on (I often forget that ProtonVPN is on). Concerns about compromised exit nodes can apply to any service, be it CloudFlare, Apple Private Relay, or a VPN. However, if you’re particularly concerned about security, using a service like Proton VPN’s Secure Core (Double Hop) feature offers reasonable protection, even against state actors.
iCloud Private Relay, which works only for Safari browsing, functions similarly to a VPN by hiding your traffic from the ISP and masking your IP from websites. It’s often faster than many VPNs, and Google search may not trigger the same alerts, although some websites still freak out about it.
If you’re in a country like the USA, where ISPs can legally track and sell your browsing data, it’s worth considering one or more of these privacy tools regularly.
Finally, while TOR is a highly secure option for privacy, it’s too slow and cumbersome to be a practical “always-on” solution. That said, ProtonVPN offers some servers that integrate with the TOR network, adding an additional layer of privacy when needed but I find them slower than regular servers.
What did not change?
My location was the same. The site didn’t change the values with 1Blocker on or off