NordVPN is becoming more annoying and scammy.
First of all, they’re based in Panama, which is not even near Europe, but that’s an aside.
Recently, I’ve noticed that they shift my VPN connection to Panama and the UAE. Those famous parts of America.
I noticed this at first because Facebook and Paypal change regions and language automatically, and then set cookies so it’s very difficult to change them back.
I noticed that NordVPN keeps shunting my connection to a “Cyber Assets Fzco” based in Dubai recently, it seems to do that more than the Panama ones that keep coming up.
On Reddit, there have also been discussions about NordVPN switching people to AutoPay if they try to switch credit cards, even if that’s not what they want, and NordVPN will continue billing their cards even if they try to cancel it. (NordVPN doesn’t have my card number because I subscribed through Google Play.)
Also, disturbingly, NordVPN has been gobbling up other VPNs which signed deals with the RIAA and MPAA to block BitTorrent or identify the VPN users (making the VPN worthless), which immediately folded up and sold their branding and subscribers to NordVPN since their business was ruined.
Around the same time, NordVPN updated their Privacy and ToS policies, they said it makes them easier to read.
I didn’t think so, but what I did notice is that it more prominently states that they can throw you off the service for infringing copyrights or breaking any law, however they continue to insist that they don’t log you, unless you have a dedicated VPN IP address, in which case all of your activities actually are logged, and linked to the email address you signed up for NordVPN with.
They also made it more obvious where to send abuse and law enforcement complaints/requests to.
What deals are they subject to with the RIAA/MPAA, directly or through their acquisitions. Are they really logging you? Are you comfortable with your Internet access being routed through the United Arab Emirates?
Are you concerned that it might be difficult to get them to quit billing you?
These are all good questions, but NordVPN doesn’t do much except promote itself, and they are pretty good at that.
I don’t think that VPNs are the ultimate answer. There will come a point where the jig is up and they’ll all have to shut down, and we’ll all need to move towards anonymity networks that have privacy built in and to the point where it is fast and easy to share files with others.
Richard Stallman has been adamant in opposing the copyright system that exists in the US. Using a VPN doesn’t get rid of all of the laws that Congress keeps passing, which were bought and paid for by an industry that mostly sits around on its ass and doesn’t create much.
At best, a VPN may not be logging you, but only they know if they are. At worst, you’re paying for a false sense of security.
Mozilla is being laughed at for getting in on the “VPN” scene. What they do is essentially take Mullvad, double the price, and have different software for accessing it, and a different privacy policy.
To sign up for Mozilla VPN, you also have to uniquely identify yourself when you go to pay for it and create an account.
I’m not sure, with the whole UAE thing going on, that I want to subscribe to NordVPN again. I might just let it time out and cancel through the Play store. The UAE is an extremely corrupt country. They allow Russian oligarchs to party there, while executing homosexuals.
Meanwhile, NordVPN talks about human rights. LOL
As Roy Schestowitz put it in TechRights IRC the other day, NordVPN pretends they are based in countries that treat people well, and they’re actually based in some of the biggest countries for human rights violations on the planet.
BaronHK's Rants 