https://grapheneos.org/faq#hardware-identifiers
No user installed app can access unique hardware identifiers. That includes sandboxed play services (I confirmed this in the matrix chat room).
As for what they actually see, I don't know exactly what, but since they don't get unique identifiers, I don't care
Netflix works with ProtonVPN plus servers. They actually even work with at least one of the free servers (I was only using one server consistently before upgrading).
There is only one time Netflix stopped working. I changed the plus server and worked again. Changed back to previous plus server after a while and continued to work.
As already mentioned you can use vlan aware APs. vlans are not for the feint of heart; getting a separate AP is much easier.
However, I will also say that ProtonVPN supports streaming services on their Plus plan. I haven't personally tried Netflix but I've streamed Paramount+, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime while using ProtonVPN without issue. You need to select a Plus server and make sure to use their DNS servers
GSF is part of the Play Store and there are 3 components you would need to install: https://grapheneos.org/usage#sandboxed-play-services Installing the Play Store is safe on Graphene since it's sandboxed.
> You confirm that you are either a legal resident of the United States, a United States citizen or a business entity authorized to conduct business by the state(s) in which you operate and that you are an authorized signatory for the business you represent.
Sandboxed Google Play Services are offered by GrapheneOS, a hardened AOSP-based operating system, to allow users to enjoy the apps that they're used to on an OS that otherwise would be degoogled. You simply install them as normal apps, add or revoke the permissions that you want for them(they can work just fine will all permissions revoked, including network,) and then you're good. You can read more, including instructions on how to install Sandboxed Play Services, here: https://grapheneos.org/usage#sandboxed-play-services.
As far as installing MySudo, I'd recommend getting it from Aurora Store, which is an app that allows you to access and download apps from the Google Play Store without any sort of account. It will automatically hook into the installed Google Play Services and should work as expected.
Sadly, I can't exactly comment on migrating your account from an iPhone that you're using to pay for the subscription and use it day to day hooked into your Apple account, as I don't have an iPhone or MySudo subscription to assist you. That said, MySudo has open lines of communication as well as the fact that many members of this community may have been in a similar situation to you and have answers. I'd suggest maybe making a post if you're interested.
Thank you greatly for your time, have an amazing rest of your day!
There is a network permission toggle and VPN apps can provide DNS-based ad-blocking, etc. themselves.
https://grapheneos.org/faq#ad-blocking-apps
> Using the VPN service to provide something other than a VPN also means that these apps need to provide an actual VPN implementation or a way to forward to apps providing one, and very few have bothered to implement this. NetGuard is an one example implementing SOCKS5 forwarding, which can be used to forward to apps like Orbot (Tor).
I misunderstood your post. Yes, you can open the header from your email client, and there is information there.
Copy the email header into a tool like this
https://mxtoolbox.com/EmailHeaders.aspx
Edit; here is how to find the email header
The last time I tried just a single connection, it did flake out occasionally. I can't remember how often.
Nowadays I have multiple ProtonVPN connections set up to different servers in a fail over, so if one ProtonVPN connection fails, it switches to another ProtonVPN connection.
ProtonVPN's basic plan only allows for two concurrent connections, so if you set them both up on your pfsense router then you wouldn't be able to connect from your phone when you're not at home (unless you want to do some tomfoolery like I do where Pfsense is also a VPN server, so you can VPN into your home network and have internet outbound traffic go out to ProtonVPN). The plus plan allows for 10 concurrent connections.
I'm also interested in this, I have a ProtonMail account and started looking for a VPN service, in the end it came down to where they are hosted in terms of jurisdiction and logging requirements.
AFAICT NordVPN is hosted in Iceland, which has tighter privacy laws and less allowances for law enforcement than Switzerland (where Proton is based). I was also concerned that if I had both ProtonMail and ProtonVPN, that's a central link between all of my emails and my online activity, regardless of how much logging is done this seems like a bad idea.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm still learning. As services to use both Nord and Proton are very good.
My solution to this problem (also using a pfSense router):
- I assign fixed IP addresses to my streaming devices in the DHCP server config.
- I then set up policy routes that send all traffic with the source addresses of these devices directly to the actual WAN gateway, i.e. they will bypass my VPN.
Of course this lets the streaming providers see your actual IP address. If that bothers you, you could use the same method to route streaming traffic through the TorGuard VPN instead of the WAN interface, and route all other traffic through ProtonVPN with variable IP addresses to avoid tracking.
Sorry, I meant the ProtonVPN credentials. Just making sure you used the openVPN creds instead of the username/password you created yourself to log into ProtonVPN. Every now and then people miss that part so just checking
Occasionally I'll have MySudo temporarily not work on certain ProtonVPN servers, I just have to toggle to a new server (sometimes twice), it registers that I am actually a paid member, and then it will work.
It was bad there for a while like a year ago and I had to do this multiple times a day, I complained, emailed them the servers that were having the issue and I now only have to toggle between servers maybe once a week.
You don't actually need a separate port for Netflix and other major streaming services) if you use a paid ProtonVPN plan. They have implemented some special sauce (pretty sure they've bought some residential IP addresses that they redirect Netflix traffic through). While I haven't personally streamed Netflix because I don't have a Netflix account, I have streamed Hulu and Disney Plus without issue
I tried ProtonVPN recently after discovering they finally offer Wireguard server configs which can be imported to pfsense. Unfortunately the speeds were disappointing and did not compare to Mullvad where I could get full 350Mbps line speed over Wireguard. With ProtonVPN I was seeing max 160Mbps but it fluctuated on every speed test down to 80Mbps or less. I got a refund and stuck with Mullvad.
I don't recall that MB had any list of recommended apps for GrapheneOS. I do know that he mentioned Signal, ProtonMail, and possibly ProtonVPN since those are services he uses. He did mention Linphone and Sipnetic for VoIP. I haven't tried Sipnetic, but others in this sub have mentioned they like it.
For notes, personally, I use Signal. I don't use my phone for journaling, just small notes, and Signal's "Note to Self" is great for storing encrypted notes.
I don't use any map apps. I use a Garmin.
Other useful apps I use:
Thank you for your answer. I'm experiencing exactly the same issues and have a very similar setup. Just a few questions for you, when you have a moment :)
TIA
MySudo has occasional issues for me with Proton and with Mullvad. Their app fills a niche amazingly well but it’s just not 100% reliable including the need for Apple/Google push services. MySudo support told me:
> We understand our users like the idea of using a VPN and we don't do anything to specifically prevent their usage. However, it's possible you were accessing MySudo services via a VPN egress point we have restricted. The restriction is based on association with misuse or abuse by others using industry provided threat intelligence data. Usually connecting to a different VPN Server (exit point) will resolve the issue. You can then try your preferred server again after a few days.
Hi,
I run ProtonVPN on Android, and have noticed similar issues. I thought it was just me. Sometimes I will receive push notifications, other times I will not. I will need to open the app to check if I have anything new which I am not a fan of. Or sometimes it will take a bit for things to come through at all.
I had suspicions about it being ProtonVPN for awhile now, and finally seeing someone else talk about it I feel like confirms it for me. Thankfully I do not use MySudo for many incoming messages or calls, and it's mainly for this reason why I haven't fully switched to using MySudo. What if there is an emergency, something work related, etc.
My only idea of fixing this issues, is finding a bunch of VPNs that don't restrict MySudo, and only connecting to those ones on mobile.
I'm running MySudo on the new iPhone SE with ProtonVPN.
Sometimes people will tell me they have a hard time hearing me but I don't know if that's just because I'm in spot with a low wifi signal or if it's related to MySudo.
Other times I will answer a call and won't hear anything so I have to hang up or call them back. Other times I will answer a call and hear the other person and they won't hear me. Again, I might have to hang up and call back a couple of times to finally have them hear me. Again, not sure if the issue is with me or the other person.
Finally, the issue I noticed for most of my use which drove me nuts was the "ghost" notification. The MySudo icon will have a badge icon showing I have "1" of something that needed my attention but when I opened the app and went through all my sudos, there was nothing I hadn't seen. Even clicking the notification bell icon would just show a message saying, "You're all caught up!". I'd then go back to the home screen and that "1" would still be there taunting me. It would then take manually closing the app, going through all the sudos again, manually closing the app, turning around 5 times, jumping up and down, etc until finally, mysteriously, the "1" would be gone.
Finally, just as comparison, when I make a voice call through Signal with another Signal user, the voice quality is noticeably better than calls through MySudo. That's not to say the voice quality is bad with MySudo, just that it's better on Signal.
Thanks and I've received a similar response from support. I've begun to exclude MySudo from ProtonVPN on Android but I still run into issues with calls. I'm wondering if the exclusion actually works or not.
I run MySudo on an iPhone and ProtonVPN on my router. I do notice that occasionally, I'll receive a notification for a text, but while I can read the notification, when I go into the actual conversation with that person, it's not there. The actual text will appear some time later, usually within 24 hours
I have no idea if this is actually related to ProtonVPN at all
I agree. I follow Henry from Techlore and he says the same thing about digging into people that are just getting started. I am new to the privacy space, about a year in. I fell victim to not necessarily believing ProtonVPN is a honey pot but having an aversion to the idea of using it. There is some much FUD around it. I got over it though eventually.
I actually just set up a Travel Router with ProtonVPN and will be using in a couple weeks.
Extreme Privacy 4th edition is out now and it looks amazing! 30% new content compared to the previous edition, three new chapters, available in paper or hard cover, and if you don't want to buy off of Amazon, you can buy using Bitcoin.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09W78GW2T
Bitcoin link: https://inteltechniques.com/bitcoin.html
Can I say again that the cover looks amazing!? I like the design of the redacted info, very creative.
I use calyx which is similar enough, my approach is to use the google camera but remove the internet permissions. This feels safe enough to me. The calyx folks also have nicely developed a google photo shim (because gcam specifically looks for the photos app to be installed). If you are able to block internet permission, this might be a reasonable approach for you on graphene as well.
heres the announce: https://calyxos.org/news/2021/09/30/gcam-photos-preview/
https://grapheneos.org/usage#lte-only-mode
LTE is incompatible with 2G and 3G, so using LTE only mode will prevent your phone from trying to connect to 2G.
That's not a counterargument.
Are you saying you're fine with them taking the back-end out of open-source? If so, I'd love to hear why you think that is no big deal - but to say "Signal didn't do" when the statement is on their website is a nonstarter.
You should be ok.
You would generally appear to be from the location of the node that you are using in ProtonVPN.
If they ever decided to look closely at the IP address you use, Proton and other VPN addresses are marked in IP Lookups as "Network sharing device or proxy server" so they could determine that the IP address you are connecting from is likely part of a VPN.
But that wouldn't be able to tell them exactly where you are connecting from.
As an example, I was once asked to look into the Internet activity of someone associated with my organization. The best I could report back was that the user's device was using a popular east Asian VPN to access our website and services.
Note there may be other ways to determine where VPN users are located, even when using a VPN. But at my organization, we would not be allowed to do that (nor would I want to do that).
For example, it is apparently still possible to extract timezone data from your local machine using Javascript. So if you are living in the UK but connecting to a US-based ProtonVPN node, someone could insert a Javascript into a website that you have to visit and grab your machine's timezone.
If they did that and saw that you claim to be in the US but your machine is set to a UK would probably raise a red flag.
See, for example, this timezone checker -
Yes and no.
First, I am in a similar situation to you. I use a personal laptop almost exclusively for work-related purposes, though I am not required to install work-provided AV, etc.
Second, I have my laptop set up so that it uses ProtonVPN and will not connect to the Internet unless ProtonVPN is active.
So, yes, I can set ProtonVPN to use a node in a different country or state and it appears that my laptop is located in that area.
You should know this can potentially raise red flags on the back end. For example, if I log into a work service on my phone which appears to be in the US and then an hour later log into my laptop which appears to be in the UK ... that looks a lot like a hack or something similar to a lot of security appliances.
On the no side, the IP ranges that Proton and other VPNs used are well known and it won't take long for any minimally competent IT group to realize that you're not *really* in the United States, but are simply connecting to a VPN node that is located in the United States.
I believe MB was saying that not all apps will push notifications. GrapheneOS doesn't have Google Play services, though you can install them as described by the GrapheneOS team. Many third-party apps such as Protonmail rely on Play services to push notifications. MB did mention that he doesn't get Protonmail notifications.
Some third-party apps such as Signal have their own push notification capabilities, and you will receive notifications even with those apps closed... most of the time. Signal pushes just fine, but I do have a third-party app that sometimes pushes, sometimes will not.
All apps that come preloaded (and there are very few that do) in GrapheneOS do not rely on Play services and therefore will push notifications.
First of all, there is no such thing as absolute privacy or anonymity. It just isn't possible. The best you can do is regain most of your control over who has access to what information. It's up to you to decide whether the privacy you gain with virtual cards is greater than the privacy you lose by using them. With that said, the new T&C don't change the fact that, if you had an account previously with Privacy.com, they already have your information. As u/fightforprivacy_cc mentioned, they are required by law to know it. It's called KYC (Know Your Customer), and you can learn a bit more about it here.
What is the minimum information they will require on the website? Email address? Credit card (Privacy.com) information?
Connect via a VPN? Otherwise they would associate IP address with the SIM card, right?
It appears the site doesn't work over Tor.
Sorry for the super late reply - I don't log in here very often. I signed up online, so all they required was a credit card. Since I used a privacy.com card, I could put anything I wanted for name, address, phone number, etc. Did you sign up online, or in the actual gym?
The other day, they did eventually ask me for a picture. I complied because I do this mostly as a hobby. They never did ask or an ID, so if I did this again, I would use an alias name.
I recently signed up to Planet Fitness. I was able to sign up online, pay with a privacy.com card, and start using the gym without speaking to anybody in person at the actual club.
I signed up using my real name, but I used my PMB mailbox and gave them a fake date of birth. I downloaded the app on my iPhone and used the QR scanner to enter the club. One employee asked if I wanted to have my picture taken (since my profile showed no picture). I said "No thanks" and entered without further issue.
The app requires Google Play Services so I took a screenshot of the QR code and sent it to my GrapheneOS phone. I've used this twice to "sign in" at the desk with no problem.
I used my real name expecting that somebody might ask for my ID the first time I came in. But since that hasn't occurred yet, you should be able to use an alias with no issue.
Even if you could get past the phone number check, I've learned they are now requiring a valid credit card to even download a free app from the App Store. It would not accept my Privacy.com virtual card number either. Not even fooling with iPhone anymore. Good luck.
I've used Privacy.com for a couple years now and am very happy with it. No complaints. Great way to not just maintain privacy but also to manage routine monthly expenses. Great product.
I'd probably stick to privacy.com until MB gives us the green light. To be honest I haven't bought anything online in my name for a while. For the few things I've used prepaid cards and have them shipped to my job under an alias name which my co-workers know. And the Amazon stuff I'll give my co-workers money and they order stuff for me like a batch of Mint mobile cards. BTW you can only order 1 at a time/customer now for some reason. So its good i work with allot of people that have Prime.
As someone actually in the security field, I find it more likely that the author is being dishonest here - as long as you download from sites and know what you are doing (for example like libgen.is which has all of bazzel's works for free)
He also still recommended using using Firefox and Firefox Focus. The Graphene OS devs have a long write-up on why people should stick to either Vanadium or Bromite, and why not to use Firefox or its variants.
https://grapheneos.org/usage#web-browsing
At this point I'm following the recommendations of the Graphene OS devs regarding their OS. MB has good advice, but I'm not treating it as gospel.
Have a look at Waltr 2. It's some pretty amazing software from Softorino that allows you to just drag and drop stuff from your computer to your ipad/iphone and vice versa. You can get a free trial too. There's also iMazibg which has some incredible stuff too. I'll link then both.....
Thanks for your post.
(1) Can you use Twilio voicemail the way you use traditional voicemail, i.e., can you use a softphone app like Sipnetic, Zoiper, or Linphone to answer a call if you are available, but let it go to voicemail if you do not answer nd also have it go to VM if you are on another call on that line? Or is Twilio VM only available if you program the line so all calls go to VM?
(2) Does Twilio have a feature for sending SMS by sending an email and vice versa, i.e., receiving SMS as email? I really like that feature in Telnyx (which requires the use of Zapier). However, besides the fact that the "Zap" does not work with MMS, I found another shortcoming—you can receive as email an SMS from a short code, but you cannot reply. You can only send to a "regular" number, i.e., a number in E.164 format (+12135551234). I don't use SMS messaging often, but when I do, I would like to be able to use my email client and store messages in the same folder system as email.
Now I remember that when I checked out Twilio a year ago, there was a way to receive SMS as email (not sure about sending), but it required an account with an affiliated company which did not accept me as a client (based on volume of anticipated used, which would have been small).
Things have changed, and I just found a Zap for sending an SMS with Twilio by sending email: https://zapier.com/apps/email/integrations/twilio/43/send-sms-messages-via-email. I can't try it to see if it works with short codes, because I don't have a Twilio account. (Don't have time to work on it right now anyway.) Hope someone will answer that question and whether there is a Zapier–Twilio integration in the opposite direction—to convert a received SMS message into an email.
With the instructions in the book tbf, not the ubuntu commands from the site (I'm using Mint, and already a ProtonVPN installation command messed with the lock screen and made it ubuntu, bit confused by that still)
I added the repository ppa unit 193 encryption and then just sudo apt installed veracrypt
I've been using Sipnetic which works okay. The main problem I have with it is really an issue with ProtonVPN. The ProtonVPN app disconnects all the time and that seems to cause Sipnetic to get messed up. I may just try running without the VPN.
Maybe the folks over at r/headphones might have good recommendations if you're looking for something with good sound quality, etc.
​
An old(er) wired Bose pair would probably a decent option. No need to deal with their app or the patchiness of the Bluetooth signal. It still bugs me that I need to turn on location services (on Android) periodically to connect/update my Bluetooth devices - I've never had to do so with these headphones. If you have a newer Pixel phone, you might need an adapter to connect the 3.5 mm wire, but that's probably worth the hassle.
The Magic Earth app is well designed and good in terms of functionality, but I have some doubts regarding its privacy. The app is free and has no ads, so I wondered how they finance it. One possible explanation can be found in this document (which is linked from their privacy policy):
https://www.magicearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/MagicEarth-User-Data-Privacy_20190902.pdf
According to the table the app uploads "traffic data", including GPS coordinates. Collecting this data may be a reason why they are giving the app away for free, because the parent company (General Magic) also sells commercial products featuring live traffic information. They say the uploaded data is "anonymously retained", but location traces are notoriously easy to de-anonymize.
Thank you so much! This is great. Can you please clarify a couple things? I've looked at JMP and I have a couple questions. As I understand it, JMP gives me a number but not an app to use the number, right? How do I keep my number that came with my phone but not use it, and instead use the JMP number? Should I download an app? The SIP thing sounds the best, but my phone gives me a warning when I try to download the CSipSimple app that they recommend. I am using a de-googled phone (e.foundation and I'm also getting a Pixel 4a and plan on installing Graphene).
​
Thank you!
Ah you meant free, disregard my previous message then. I misunderstood your original post. If your looking for free, check out https://safing.io/portmaster/ this is from MBs book, and I’ve tried it, it good for what it does, but it’s super clustered. For me, it was overwhelming about how much stuff was on one screen at once. The UI could definitely be better. Just a heads up, if you do choose to use this, the second you install it; it will take 30-45 minutes to download packages, and while that is happening you won’t have access to internet because it will be blocking it. At least, that’s what happened for me. HTH
This was a great episode! I first want to tell Michael congrats on the 200th episode, and glad that he just did a normal episode instead of some silly anniversary episode.
I really enjoyed the tip to https://send.tresorit.com/ for temporary file sharing.
You didn't state if you're using Android or IOS but for IOS I use OTP Auth specifically because it offers the ability to keep an external backup. I migrated from andOTP on Android to this and it was really simple to import my codes.
Spideroak. I used it for a while. Michael interviewed the CEO in episode #97.
I currently use restic+Backblaze B2, so everything is encrypted before hitting their cloud.
You can't search for it directly. Go to the mysudo website and click on the link to open it in Google Play Store. It should open in aurora instead. If it opens in your browser, there should be an option to open it in the app.
Here's a direct link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anonyome.mysudo&hl=en_US&gl=US
Strange. Just curious, are you using a VPN and/or a firewall on your phone?
I have iPhone SE Gen 2 and use ProtonVPN with Lockdown. I changed the protocol in ProtonVPN from IKEv2 to WireGuard and then back to IKEv2 and I am now making some progress on receiving Google Voice calls. When I answer on MySudo, I hear the end of what I believe is this message:
"In case of a fas pickup we ask you to let us know that you are not a voicemail system so you need to press 1 to take this call”
After I press 1, I am able to answer the call. It's not perfect but like I said, it's progress at least.
IVPN has a tracker control feature built in. They even have a "harcore mode" that blocks ALL Google and Facebook connections, which actually breaks many apps and websites (due to the Google parts, primarily).
IVPN doesn't require an email to sign up, has an F-Droid app, and even takes Monero.
FWIW, I use a Mikrotik HAP AC2 as a travel router that can use Wifi or ethernet as a connection to the internet. It also has ProtonVPN IPSec setup giving privacy to all devices that connect to the AC2, as well as a IPSec VPN link back to home. Finally, I use a Raspberry Pi Zero running PiHole for ads blocking.
Might be worth considering, and not big to carry around either.
I think this really depends on the layout of your home. I would just think like a burglar and imagine what would be the easiest way to get in?
For example, if you want to beef up the front door, the most bang for the buck thing you can do is replace any 1/2 inch screws used in your hinges or door strike with 3 or 3.5 inch screws so that you anchor them to the studs. You could also look into getting a reinforced door jamb kit like this one (I just grabbed the first result on Amazon):
https://www.amazon.com/Door-Armor-MAX-Complete-Reinforcement/dp/B00E9ZGWNQ/
No idea. I haven't read his guide.
Overview is
1) set up multiple OpenVPN clients
2) under system, routing, gateway groups, create a gateway group. For fail over select multiple OpenVPN gateways in different tiers. You can also put some in the same tier if you'd like for round robin. I had some weird connection issues with that - not sure if I configured it incorrectly or if there's a bug in Pfsense
3) this gateway group is now a valid gateway. In your firewall rules, where his guide says select the OpenVPN gateway to force client traffic to pfsense, select that gateway group instead
This approach makes it viable to use the secure core VPN servers that ProtonVPN provides. When you use those servers it first sends your traffic to a ProtonVPN server in either Switzerland, Sweden, or Iceland before it exits a ProtonVPN server in whatever country you selected. ProtonVPN rents their non secure core servers in countries around the world. I'm sure ProtonVPN does some amount of vetting of the providers of these rented servers, but they still could be malicious. Or logging the IPs of the traffic that goes in and out. By bouncing the traffic off a secure core server, the server provider only sees traffic coming from the secure for server, not your home IP. And ProtonVPN actually buys and manages the secure core servers, and from my understanding is not quite their own ISP but is some middle ground.
All of this is quite frankly probably unnecessary but I think it's cool so I use it. However, since I don't live in Europe, it comes at a high cost to latency, and general connection reliability. Without the fail over from pfsense, it would be fairly impractical to use the secure core servers as a whole network VPN. In my default gateway group I have 3 secure core servers, then 2 regular servers in my country. Occasionally it does fail over to the regular servers.
I've been a Mullvad user from the beginning since I couldn't get anywhere near their speeds through other services. I never tried ProtonVPN though because of the price until recently and was surprised to see my download speeds were almost being maxed out whereas that never happened with Mullvad. Another bonus is that they offer 10 devices vs Mullvad's 7 (I haven't gotten around to setting up my Protectli box yet).
I'm going to try them out on a monthly subscription for a bit more but so far I've been happy with them and might switch from Mullvad in the end.
I prefer not to for two reasons: - My Protonmail accounts has tons of mails with my real name in the metadata (and one of my aliases is firstname.lastname@proton), so bundling it with ProtonVPN would potentially tie it to me personally - If something goes wrong with ProtonVPN and they suspend my account, I lose access to my email as well
Personally I prefer Mullvad anyway. They don't collect any personal information, not even an email address.
I started using a InvizboxGo when out and about. So far, so good. Only issue I have is that I can't set it up with ProtonVPN, it comes preinstalled with NorthVPN. But it's small enough that I can carry it in my pocket, and all my devices can run through it.
NordVPN isn't terrible, but there are certainly better options. ProtonVPN and Mullvad are solid.
My personal favorite is IVPN. No email required to sign up. F-Droid App. You can pay with crypto, including Monero. It also has an "AntiTracker" feature that blocks all known app trackers. Even has a "hardcore" mode that blocks anything associated with Google or Facebook.
NordVPN is based in Panama, outside of even the 14 eyes, and has no (apparently) data retention laws.
Only thing I've found so far is a security breach a few years ago where an old private key for a server in Finland was used, potentially impersonating the service, but there was no evidence found of data collection and the key in question couldn't have been used to access any user data or credentials. It's still not a good incident obviously, but I still haven't found anything to suggest they do keep logs or provide data to the authorities.
Techlore VPN Chart. Long story short, you’re better off with ProtonVPN or other alternatives.
The account is four months old. However, there are no declines showing at . I reached out to their support and they don't see anything. They mentioned it must be declined by ProtonVPN.
I've tried two cards already and don't want to create more cards. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with me being connected to ProtonVPN while upgrading. Also the decline message from ProtonVPN is in another language even though I'm using one of the free US servers.
I wish you the best of luck in finding others to do OSINT with you.
If you do want a temporary 'real' number. For $1 you can get two sim cards with a week's worth of calls, texts, and data. Here's the link
At $0.50 a phone number for a week, I open up a few accounts at like Twitter and discord where they require a non VoIP number before that week is over.