That is just pure garbage. Except for torrenting, no one needs a VPN and even with it, I don’t recommend torrents.
The question is: Who are you trying to hide from? A VPN can only help you from hiding your activity from your ISP (and everyone that uses the ISP’s data). It’s not gonna help you much with tracking through fingerprinting.
Using a vpn for everyday activities is pretty useless. If you are logged into something, even with a vpn, you are being tracked and your identity is known.
I was once sued for seeding some Tarantino flick (could name it) for about 5 minutes. It actually was by mistake on my side, back at the time I did pirate a little, just not this one so much for the irony. The initial demand was quite a bit more than 1k. Went all the way to court, didn’t have to pay a cent but for travel. It wasn’t difficult to get out but you’d need a decent lawyer… and some friend to volunteer. Nothing to try for fun, you’re still losing on time and nerve. Obviously I didn’t yet use a VPN, there were few if any, nor other precautions. It’s mostly a thing of the past, partly b/c of cheap VPNs, partly b/c of who’s still torrenting? It was retro even when I got that hit.
I said “in the EU,” gotcha. These are post-Brexit days.
Aside from that, you’re correct, at least in the broader Europe.
lol. Meanwhile Germany demanding platforms like Reddit dox their users for simply insulting members of parliament, like calling one “fat”.
Presumably you’re being downvoted by glowies who don’t want you spreading these facts
Maybe stop doing illegal shit (except piracy, idc about that).
Yeah. It’s crazy how well vpn marketing has done in spreading snake oil-like misinformation about what their products do, especially with regards to privacy. Don’t get me wrong, there are uses for a vpn, but people have such strong misconceptions about how much utility it really has. As far as security, it does not provide further security beyond what HTTPS already does, and as an extra attack vector probably weakens security a little.
It does (mostly) hide which sites you visit from your ISP, which does add some privacy, but you are really just shifting that responsibility to your VPN provider who has their own ISPs. And as far as websites you are visiting not knowing your IP address, that’s also pretty much worthless outside of crime (but in that case use tor). IP addresses aren’t static things that identify you, and while it’s a piece of the identity puzzle there are plenty of other pieces, some much better, at identifying you (including logins like I mentioned). IP addresses frequently change. Switching between cell towers, restarting your modem (sometimes depending on ISP configurations), going to a friends house, etc. multiple people share IPs if living in the same house or sharing university or work internet. As someone who has worked extensively in identity resolution, IP addresses are often not worth the hassle. It’s a non problem.
It can be part of a broader privacy strategy, but it’s not some magical barrier between the internet and your identity, especially when not coupled with other privacy measures.
You’d have done well as a soldier in a Nazi death camp, obeying your overlords.
like mocking an MP? y’all wild