A lot of my files were shitty 480p versions of movies from the Napster days. Now they’re all 1080p, with a few 720p exceptions (mainly tv series episodes). All in all 500 something files in total. Now just watching uTorrent slowly download them all. Hopefully my VPN keeps the eyes off of me…

    • FlavoredButtHair@lemmy.worldEnglish
      241·
      7 months ago

      Umm from my understanding they handed over their users data some years ago. I think the authorities might’ve asked, you may have to google that.

      I’ve been using Mullvad, it’s like $5/mo and their servers are fast. They have servers all over the world. Mullvad did away with port forwarding. This article favors Nordvpn but it depends what your needs are

      https://www.safetydetectives.com/blog/nordvpn-vs-mullvad-vpn-comparison/

      Edit 1, they do comply with law enforcement https://www.pcmag.com/news/nordvpn-actually-we-do-comply-with-law-enforcement-data-requests

      • d00phy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        16·
        7 months ago

        Whether or not they comply with law enforcement is not the issue. Any company will comply with their local law enforcement if they want to keep their doors open. What’s important is what data they keep on their users. Unless I’m mistaken, Nord, like many others, only keeps billing info and limited connection info for load balancing purposes (deleted after something like 15-minutes). So, the Panamanian government (where they’re headquartered); who IIRC has no data retention laws and isn’t part of 5-eyes; asks for logs, they will get something, but not much to tie a specific customer to anything.

        Also, Nord has been independently audited multiple times in the past. Something quite a few other providers can’t say.

        It’s popular to bash on Nord b/c they advertise a lot, but I haven’t seen a legit reason not to use them. If it exists, I’d love to see it.

      • Patches@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        7 months ago

        Isn’t the real problem if they comply with mega conglomerate corporations?

        I’m not worried that FBI has my data. They guaranteed already have all of it.

        I just don’t want the house of mouse taking my home because I stole checks notes Shrek 4: The Shrekening

        • FlavoredButtHair@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          7 months ago

          Yea I was using Boleh VPN at one point and somehow got caught with Avatar the way of the water.

          My VPN might’ve turned off and I didn’t know. Switched to Mullvad and haven’t had no issues.

          I just played it off that something might be wrong with my modem or router and will replace it soon. But I make sure I’m connected the whole time.

    • thirteene@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      They check the boxes for log and data retention but they are a trashy organization. Skim their terms of service which states that security and uptime are not guaranteed. Support is a 36 hour turn around and they will hamstring you out of the 30 day return policy. Their client is absolute garbage with built in features to cause you to leak. I leaked twice in the first 2 months. Highly discourage them, but they are a soulless organization checking minimum requirements.

    • Patches@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      7 months ago

      If it is for piracy - I have used Nord VPN for 6+ years now because it’s like 2 years for $100 and I am just fine. I have never received a letter, or an email about piracy.

      As always check for a DNS leak and if possible setup a VPN kill switch (built-in Nord), or use Qbitorrent (my choice) which has its own kill switch.

      If you want a VPN for more nefarious purposes I can’t, and wouldn’t help with that.

        • neosheo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          21·
          7 months ago

          I would say nord is not considered privacy respecting. At least not in the way things like mullvad or proton are?

          Will nord or express work for pirating yes, are they actually private, we don’t really know.

          Companies like mullvad offer no logging vpn whereas nord makes no such promise.

          I honestly don’t know too much about nord but i think that’s the gyst of it

        • Nyanix@lemmy.caEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          Ah, well my apologies, I made the incorrect assumption that it was. I’m headed to bed at the moment, so I apologize for the short explanation, I’ll try to come back with better facts and sources, but the short of it is that when you use a VPN, you’re effectively shifting trust from your ISP to your VPN provider. Trust that your data is not being mishandled, misused, is secured, and is not being used for further profits. If a VPN provider logs heavily and has a police raid or a subpoena, your data is still freely accessible. In all fairness, in using NordVPN, your traffic is still encrypted over the network, further securing you from attacks, but they tend to lean very log-heavy, and if I remember right, have had some security issues in the past, though don’t quote me on that, I want to come back more researched. Generally speaking, the consensus on Lemmy has been in favor of Mullivad since they log nothing and can even take anynomous payment, on top of being a very affordable VPN. Sorry again for my incorrect assumption regarding sarcasm, I’m used to a lot of hardcore privacy nerds on here. You’re better off with NordVPN than without is the fact of the matter, and good on you if you’re making use of it 😁