How safe is a VPN like ExpressVPN?

rvZA

rvZA

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How safe are you when using a VPN like ExpressVPN? Can an ISP monitor your usage or see what you are downloading?

The reason I am asking this question is in light of the upcoming Cyber Security bill where ISP's will have the responsibility to report user activities to law enforcement.

What do or can they see and what can they report? Also, what information can authorities get from these services if they obtain a subpoena for information on a users' usage to these services?
 
Pretty much any VPN will block your ISP from seeing anything, but you are in effect simply just moving the logs to another place, Express is one of those who claim to not log.

But using any secure VPN will basically mean your ISP only ever sees that single connection.

Usually if they have a local server you can expect a loss of 5 to 10% of your total line speed. So a good service with local nodes and a proper router would allow you to protect the entire house.
 
rvZA said:
How safe are you when using a VPN like ExpressVPN? Can an ISP monitor your usage or see what you are downloading?

The reason I am asking this question is in light of the upcoming Cyber Security bill where ISP's will have the responsibility to report user activities to law enforcement.

What do or can they see and what can they report? Also, what information can authorities get from these services if they obtain a subpoena for information on a users' usage to these services?
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You'll never know. Best you can do is find their CEO online if you can and see how he/she is/acts.
 
CranialBlaze said:
Pretty much any VPN will block your ISP from seeing anything, but you are in effect simply just moving the logs to another place, Express is one of those who claim to not log.
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Okay, thank you, so the chances still exist that Law Enforcement could subpoena them and get exact usage information. I wonder if they really do not log....
 
backstreetboy said:
Windscribe says they don't log https://blog.windscribe.com/windscribe-logging-explained-in-detail-387ad63f646 and I've chatted to the CEO online before. They're also going to have a server they'll open to the public so that you can verify things.
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Thanks I'll read up on this too. Just saw an article about some political murder in Turkey and an IP Address being traced to ExpressVPN. Apparently, after receiving a subpoena, no information could have been provided for the investigation. So, this is good news at least.
 
rvZA said:
Thanks I'll read up on this too. Just saw an article about some political murder in Turkey and an IP Address being traced to ExpressVPN. Apparently, after receiving a subpoena, no information could have been provided for the investigation. So, this is good news at least.
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I've used them for the last 3 years without complaints.

I think Destin from SmarterEveryDay made a video about them showing how their datalogging works and how it stored on flash memory that gets overwritten so they couldnt pull logs even if they wanted to.
 
Voicy said:
I've used them for the last 3 years without complaints.

I think Destin from SmarterEveryDay made a video about them showing how their datalogging works and how it stored on flash memory that gets overwritten so they couldnt pull logs even if they wanted to.
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Thanks, I have just signed up for a 1 year account with them. With the upcoming Cybercrime law, I think this is becoming essential and I need to get used to using this on a permanent basis.
 
rvZA said:
Thanks, I have just signed up for a 1 year account with them. With the upcoming Cybercrime law, I think this is becoming essential and I need to get used to using this on a permanent basis.
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FWIW, I use it on my pc and my phone - especially my phone & work laptop when on wifi at work or hotels.

On my home pc it's constantly on and I haven't noticed any latency worth mentioning - THAT SAID, I am connected to European VPN servers from Europe, so latency for gaming is usualy around 60ms.

As for Netflix, Disney+ etc, I've noticed they block the "default" country servers, but if you select a more obscure server in say Oklahoma then it usually works.

One of the VPNs' BIG selling point is unlocking geoblocked streaming content, so they're always trying to stay ahead of the curve.
 
I heard some people are using DNS over TLS or Https to keep Governments from snooping, read it on reddit post will try find post again.
 
ExpressVPN is just so slow for me.

I have been using it mostly as a geo blocker for Netflix, Hulu and Prime but I ended my subscription as I simply could not take the sluggishness.
 
Affieplaas said:
ExpressVPN is just so slow for me.

I have been using it mostly as a geo blocker for Netflix, Hulu and Prime but I ended my subscription as I simply could not take the sluggishness.
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Same, I just dropped mine as it’s cheaper to buy a real router than join express for a year and then you can spend 5 minutes making SmartDNS work and that’s like R500 for 2 years.
 
rvZA said:
How safe are you when using a VPN like ExpressVPN? Can an ISP monitor your usage or see what you are downloading?

The reason I am asking this question is in light of the upcoming Cyber Security bill where ISP's will have the responsibility to report user activities to law enforcement.

What do or can they see and what can they report? Also, what information can authorities get from these services if they obtain a subpoena for information on a users' usage to these services?
Click to expand...
Your pornhub tentacle goat on a duck will be safe :thumbsup:
 
Nemoneiros said:
Your pornhub tentacle goat on a duck will be safe :thumbsup:
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Thanks, not concerned about pornhub.

I just need to know if I download a movie or series that my ISP will not be reporting it to the SAPS. I believe they started looking at establishing a reporting facility where ISPs will report suspicious internet behavior.
 
rvZA said:
Thanks, not concerned about pornhub.

I just need to know if I download a movie or series that my ISP will not be reporting it to the SAPS. I believe they started looking at establishing a reporting facility where ISPs will report suspicious internet behavior.
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imho best done in a vm running *nix box.
 
Nemoneiros said:
imho best done in a vm running *nix box.
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To be honest, I only use Windows on my PC. Never used Linux or Unix before, so I would not know how to start. But the ISP problem would still remain, right? The internet connection, the IP Address and the VPN?
 
rvZA said:
Thanks, not concerned about pornhub.

I just need to know if I download a movie or series that my ISP will not be reporting it to the SAPS. I believe they started looking at establishing a reporting facility where ISPs will report suspicious internet behavior.
Click to expand...
Oh, for that reason, meh, I don't think it will come to the fruition some might expect from a bill like this and it just leverages the already existing laws for pirating local content only, our ISPs as far as we know aren't obligated to report these from outside our jurisdiction and there's also the arguments for the lack of focus and manpower to carry these out on top of our more serious crime statutes.

IIRC that bill also focused more on promiscuous and harmful acts in public chat rooms, so definitely don't do that.

Also, if that's all you're concerned about you would be better off using a Debrid service, make sure your browser is forcing HTTPS and changing + encrypting your DNS requests, direct files over SSL can't be inspected any which way.
 
Crumbl0x said:
Oh, for that reason, meh, I don't think it will come to the fruition some might expect from a bill like this and it just leverages the already existing laws for pirating local content only, our ISPs as far as we know aren't obligated to report these from outside our jurisdiction and there's also the arguments for the lack of focus and manpower to carry these out on top of our more serious crime statutes.

IIRC that bill also focused more on promiscuous and harmful acts in public chat rooms, so definitely don't do that
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I hear you, I agree with you, but I do not want to take the risk at this point in time. Rather safe than sorry for me.
 
rvZA said:
Thanks, not concerned about pornhub.

I just need to know if I download a movie or series that my ISP will not be reporting it to the SAPS. I believe they started looking at establishing a reporting facility where ISPs will report suspicious internet behavior.
Click to expand...

For that particular case, my download server is setup using docker and the clients instance runs its own vpn, so the rest of my net is open, it’s exclusively the downloaded that is hidden, if the vpn drops the entire instance dies so no chance of downloading anything without the active vpn connection.
 
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