What is Reddit's opinion of
HideMyAss?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
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Anonymity score
HideMyAss has poor anti-logging policies and poor security practices. It based is in the UK, which has a poor internet privacy record.Popularity trend
Comments
> Mijden dus, die Pirate Bay, RARBG, 1337x en LimeTorrents.
> Soelaas biedt misschien de Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Dat heeft een handzaam overzicht met 1.186 DFW-titels,
> Het is een koud kunstje het land van herkomst te verbergen. Installeer daarvoor een VPN (virtual private network) van IPVanish of HideMyAss VPN
Hehe, volgens mij heeft de schrijver van dit stuk zo zijn eigen mening over deze actie. Dit is meer een handleiding veilig downloaden.
But someone that is in business for a long while is more likely to collaborate with governments - like HideMyAss did.
Anyway, does your VPN employ a canary? Do you think this would be effective?
>Yes, it looks like UK-based VPN provider HideMyAss has again proven that it does not offer truly great "privacy protection" to its users.
Trusting a UK company for privacy? That's your first mistake.
Do you have proof they cooperate with the NSA? Other than suspicion?
Just because Google, Verizon and AT&T cooperate. Doesn't mean every single company in the entire United States is also complicit. Some companies do still have lawyers who do their job and cite the constitution when issued one of those National Security letters.
I mean, it's not like HideMyAss where we have proof they sold someone out. Who did PIA sell out?
HideMyAss isn't hiding any ass at all. They are known to comply with authority and provide logs. The only truly VPN company I trust is PrivateInternetAccess.
Here is a VPN chart of 100 VPN with ratings ;sle=true#
I had my suspicions as well but I guess they don't risk getting sued for huge amounts of money so they probably don't. They have a thing with ads which still makes me suspicious. You just have to be paranoid with the internet and don't believe anything that sounds too good to be true. Remember HideMyAss.
This is the point where everyone starts quoting the TorrentFreak article showing all the "Good Guy" VPNs that wouldn't even think of logging any details.
And you've only got their word for it. I mean, nobody would LIE on the internets, right?
HideMyAss claimed they didn't keep logs and yet they did. Who's to say these other companies don't?
A VPN is a good idea, but be careful which ones you go for. There are many scammy ones, that won't actually protect you. Like HideMyAss selling out LulzSec.
There is also plenty of scummy sites that claim to review VPNs, but are actually advertisements.
Look for a no logs policy, and where they are domiciled. (Be careful, there is a prominent VPN company that uses nordic imagery, but is actually domiciled in Panama).
No point in going through US domiciled ones. Panama/various island nations have no data retention requirements, but also no legal protections in case the VPN company itself spies on you. while EU usually has actual privacy regulations, but it means that the provider is within the reach of law enforcement.
The best option is self hosting on a general purpose host (TrailofBits' algo, but if you are not technically inclined, has detailed comparisons.
> hidemyass is pretty legit.
No it is not.
HideMyAss is based in the ~~US~~ UK and are required by law to keep logs. You are best to choose one off of this list:
EDIT: Changed 'US' to 'UK'
They could both be using the same VPN (Private Internet Acces, BTGuard, HideMyAss, etc) service, and just happened to have been both NATted to the same public IP at one point or another (on separate occasions).
It's not unreasonable that they may have, but given the total sum of the evidence it's pretty suspect.
HideMyAss keeps logs of your activity for a month. Because they do this, they have to share them with law enforcement when presented with a court order, which has already happened before. Be very aware of this, and consider someone who doesn't log, such as .
I live in Egypt, and the selection available is very limited. I get around that using the HideMyAss VPN service ($12/month). I connect to a US server, login to crunchyroll, then disconnect the VPN (since it's slows down the connection) and watch.
It sucks that I have to pay for another service, but it's better than torrenting for me.
Well if they SAY they don't keep your logs then it must be true. You can certainly trust their word as long as it's only your personal freedom at stake. But just for argument's sake, how exactly can you verify that they're telling the truth? You know: just in case you're the paranoid type.
HideMyAss claimed that they didn't keep logs either, but when the Feds came knocking....
SERIOUSLY! HideMyAss was the one that answered the question of "do you keep logs" by saying "of course we keep logs, all the logs, all the time, and they're all personally identifiable, super easy, every single company does this, sometimes it's the law". Any company willing to make completely false claims about their legal requirement sets some huge red flags for me.
There are people in jail right now because they thought HideMyAss was secure. It's not. They log everything you do, and if government asks, they will hand your information over.
There are more secure VPN providers, but ultimately, none of them has the strong anonymity properties of Tor.
Except they recommend HideMyAss, which has to be the absolute worst VPN for privacy, they log everything.
I also don't think any of their other suggestions are all that reputable either (especially hotspot shield).
Sorry, LulzSec never did anything special. This isn't 1990 anymore. Any serious InfoSec professional would consider everything LulzSec did to be nothing more than entry level material. There is nothing special there, especially nothing worth risking exposing yourself to a criminal.
This guy used HideMyAss and thought he was safe. That's criminally stupid.
HideMyAss was a VPN. It gained a lot of attention when people got arrested after using their service for illegal things. How? Well, it turns out that HideMyAss gave access to their logs to the police. As a result, the police were able to track them down. The incident was widely reported all over social media and on online news sites. As a result, the trust that people had for HideMyAss was crippled, and people realized that free VPNs were dangerous.
for years HideMyAss was the darling of VPN providers, till we found out they were sharing info with the UK government. now UK requires all ISP's in country retain a year of user activity for UK government use.
it's a slippery slope gradually happening the world over, so IMHO you do not want to trust any privacy services company based in a 14 eyes country, as the "legal" pressure is too great on them to spy on us.
this is not tin foil hat paranoia - snowden proved that to us already. also don't trust the PIA cheerleaders on reddit - PIA uses an army of social media support people to delude people into complacency about this.
You're assuming that your VPN service won't give up your identity, even when issued a subpoena by the FBI or other government agency. If you think any company out there is willing to fight the US government to protect your illegal drug activity, then I've got some land to sell you. It's beautiful, undeveloped property in Northern Florida. Plenty of water and wildlife.
Read up on what happened between HideMyAss and LulzSec
>you don't have to worry about your building mates being able to intercept your traffic
This is dangerously wrong. See
OP should treat this network the same way they'd treat any other public network with unknown neighbors and unknown administration.
For me, that means all traffic goes over VPN. I would get a Tomato-capable router and configure it to connect to HideMyAss or one of the other lightweight VPN providers - not imagining that it will be effective versus, say, the RIAA or the MPAA, but that level of security should be effective versus nosy neighbors or apartment managers.
This is complete and total bullshit. IRC channels are loaded with federal agents, and HideMyAss isn't even remotely secure.
Look at what happened last month with - year long FBI sting targeting script kiddies. This is likely no different.
Never thought I would come across a VPN service that is actually worse than HideMyAss, but I'm sorry to say that this takes the cake. I'm actually a bit peeved that NoScript runs ads for them on their upgrade pages (last time I checked). I like NoScript but that's a strange ad partnership in this light.
The hard part is trying to pick one. There's a good bit of them around, some pretty great, others so-so, others that should only be used if absolutely needed, and some that should absolutely never be used.
If you're looking for privacy, or at the very least, trying to get away from the "public" web, PIA falls into the "only be used if absolutely needed" category. PIA is popular, and it's main company (as I understand) is US-based. HideMyAss is one that should never be used.
I replied to another person above with some recommendations, but for the cheap: SurfShark or HideMyAss. Or for the really cheap (but tech savvy), an old laptop with PFSense and OpenVPN can set up a combo Firewall/VPN that allows you to do the same thing without going to a company.
Don't put all that trust into these companies, especially if they operate in the US of A, the land of freedom. They claim to keep no logs but are willing ti suck dick if the authorities tell them to do so. Remember IPVanish kept a "strict zero logs policy". HideMyAss and PureVPN were also involved in shady activities with cops.
They say they didn't keep information, which was proven as a lie but worse of all is that they could have lied to the authorities and kept the information, but no, they advertise as a no logs policy (charging you more for that) and will happily screw over their customers. Keep that in mind whn you trust a VPN provider.
What? That is totally untrue. VPNs are not exempted from complying with subpoenas. What nonsense is this?
You bet your ass that it they collect data about you and are subpoenaed for it they're required to hand it over. HideMyAss certainly did.
Most people viewing this spreadsheet won't know what to make of it. This needs some context to explain the significance of different attributes and some way to filter the list down to the best and worst service providers. For example, while it's commendable that a service donates to the EFF, that has no bearing on how good or secure a service they are.
Here's a perfect example: HideMyAss, the notorious sleazebag service provider who has enthusiastically ratted out their users. Any resource claiming to provide a comparison of VPN services that doesn't immediately red flag this company is useless.
Also, the way this doc is locked down, it's impossible to filter, sort, and compare the data. You can't even lock the headers in place so they're visible when you scroll.
You should be skeptical about your VPN. Some VPNs keep a log of user activity for quite a few days/weeks and these logs are handed over to the LEA if they demand it. That's how one of the Anonymous hackers was caught. He was using HideMyAss VPN; HideMyAss co-operated with the police and handed over vital logs to them.
There are many VPNs who keep non-identifiable logs, or do not keep any logs at all. You should stick with such VPNs. Here's are a list of the good VPNs.
Sure, IPvanish will work great as a VPN. But if they are ever subpoenaed, you don't know if their servers contain logs or not, and you don't know what information on you they will send to the police if asked.
HideMyAss helped with the capture of lulzsec but they would still do the exact job IPvanish is doing for you right now if you registered with them.
These listed here are PROVEN to never log anything, so they are the VPNs that should be used until others get audited or go to courts over logs.
This is well made and I guess its good to get the information out there, but the creator made some really questionable choices with the premade list of VPNs to pick from (HideMyAss, seriously?). The guide would be better if it gave resources to help you choose a VPN service for yourself instead of the list it is now.
Let us never forget the time HideMyAss didn't hide a customer's ass.
And in their blog they doubled down.
I don't know if TunnelBear protects people's anonymity in addition to people's privacy.
>we personally recommend HideMyAss.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOO. HideMyAss does NOT fucking hide your ass.
They keep logs and they know exactly which customer is downloading what. And when THEY get a copyright complaint they send YOU an e-mail with the exact title of the torrent and the time you were downloading it. If they get sued that info is going straight to the suing party.
FUCK Hide My Ass.
Most people around here recommend PIA which, unlike HMA, states very clearly on its homepage that it does not keep logs.
Had to downvote this article once I read the bit about HMA. Come to think of it, the links in this article are probably affiliate links.
Just a few things that came to mind while reading through your fantastic response:
- HideMyAss is not good, at least not in regards to anonymity.
- I 2^nd PIA; good speeds, reliable service, good 'exit' node selection, and cheaper than a lot of the other services.
- TorrentFreak: Which VPN Services Take Your Anonymity Seriously? 2014 Edition
- there is no such thing as TRUE anonymity on the Internet - something that can be easy to forget sometimes.
Actually, this is fucking brilliant. Not the blocking sites, that's bad we all know, but the actual Error Code for it.
This means I can now write browser plugin that whenever a request returns a 451 it instantly redirects me through HideMyAss or my own proxy.
Also, currently they're returning 118 Errors which just means Timeout, and as you'd expect from a... timeout, it takes time. Server and browser dependent but it's anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds. Which I don't like. 451 would be instant.
And if you're thinking, "why not just hard code a list of blocked sites, or set your plugin to 118?"
- I don't want to maintain a list.
- I don't want to wait 30 seconds before it redirects, also... 118 Timeout doesn't just mean blocked, it means... You get where I am going with this
Im worried if anyone though HideMyAss was anonymous after they handed Lulzsec information over to a UK court..
As far as I know, Private Internet Access is the only VPN provider to have their no logs claim tested publicly by an intelligence agency. All the information they could provide was that the cluster of IP's used was from the east coast of the US.
VPN providers like PIA use shared IP addresses. That mean that multiple of users are using the same IP address so it would be impossible to find out which user did what. Plus PIA don't keep any logs of who is connecting at what time. VPN providers like HideMyAss do keep logs and have provided those logs to law enforcement before. Also PIA have a kill switch so if the VPN goes down it will kill your entire internet connection. This will keep your real IP address from being exposed.
Forget HideMyAss. Tunlr is free service that gives you US netflix.
Website has instructions on several platforms. Unfortunately not for wii u.
Here are instructions to follow for Wii. I'm sure those will apply to WII U as well.
In step 11 ignore that website and use DNS 69.197.169.9 (this is from tunlr)
I wouldn't go with a VPN service that is centered in the USA, like HideMyAss is. Go with a country that isn't USA's bitch. I personally use iPredator since they have been in the business for a long time, they don't ask for much more than a credit card and a "name", and they say that they don't keep logs. Maybe this article will help:
But see, I just use it for torrenting and don't do any nitty-gritty stuff so I don't worry too much about my anonymity.
If you really want anonymity there are VPN services that you can purchase using bitcoin so they can't track you from the money, and possibly connect from a VPN using another VPN (using a virtual machine). You can see some VPN services that support bitcoin here:
Your ISP doesn't care if you're pirating or using a VPN. They don't proactively police their network because it would expose them to legal liability for instances of infringement which they do not catch.
They only care when a monitoring firm contracted by the rightsholder is monitoring a BitTorrent swarm and sees your IP. They send an automated cease and desist to your ISP, alleging infringement from your IP. Usually this notice would include infohash, date/time, and name of the work you're alleged to have been torrenting.
Alternatively, HideMyAss was sent a complaint and rather than forward it to you, they passed it on to your ISP. This is significantly less likely, but possible.
my echo thing was this, written probably identical except for the color codes:
@echo off title penis cls :TOP echo Penis color 0a echo Penis color 0b echo Penis color 0c echo Penis color 0d echo Penis color 0e goto TOP
Which when run, would flash the word penis in rainbow text.
That was my hackerman moment in highschool.
That, and telling everyone how to use proxies to bypass the schools web filter. The district IT, on like a county level, was scrambling to stop it. The teachers got notifications and the IT department even started remote desktop'ing people when they'd search for HideMyAss or other proxy sites. Good times, shit talking from the Google search bar. They'd backspace the search and type like "don't do that." And people be like "make me" and they'd try to talk but we'd just hold down backspace. Yeah... remedial English lost internet access for a while...
From a relative in InfoSec that works high up for several large banks and the CIA...
Any US based VPN service is selling/keeping your info. The Feds own it all now. HideMyAss, TunnelBear, Vypr, etc. And ffs, do NOT use Google as a DNS on your homebrew VPN.
I personally use VyprVPN. find it to be more reliable and much faster than HideMyAss, which is the main one BB people use (it's promoted by people like Hamsterwatch because they're paid to promote it not because they actually think it's good)
Any paid VPN should work though. TunnelBear is cheaper but less reliable and slower.
Sadly haven't found any good free ones that work (Operas free one does not)
Make sure the gift card you buy is specifically American Express. Any other won't work (Amex ones trick the system into thinking they're American cards while others do not)
> signing up for a VPN service is seen as intent to break copyright law.
By who? You make it sound like the local police are monitoring international financial transactions looking for five dollar payments to HideMyAss and other VPN providers.
No. Plenty.
Picking a VPN that respects privacy, something simple like what sort of data, if any, is logged, will make a big difference.
TorrentFreak: Which VPN services take your anonymity seriously - they do a review on a regular basis to look at the "P" in VPN.
One example of a VPN screwing things up would be HideMyAss and Lulzsec.
3 Words - UnblockUs, Entropay, HideMyAss.... The three things that will let you break free. PUN INTENDED!!!
EDIT: also for netflix setup i don't think it accepts credit cards outside of US, (not 100% sure) so i use entropay to pay for things that aren't available here in aus (But someone can suggest another way if it's better, this is just my experience with little research done :P) All up, i'm paying about $25 for netflix to be available at home and almost on any other network including eduroam. Much cheaper than foxtel or other crap. Oh and also with unblock us you can select different countries, e.g U.S. netflix does not have a few things that Canada has and so forth. right now i think i've selected UK list
Agreed, I do not perform any illegal activity, so I do not have much to worry about, but I use HideMyAss, they are plenty fast and have hundreds of servers world wide. They hold logs for 30 days according to their privacy statement, but according to them, they fight subpoenas for said logs..... I never know who to trust or believe.
I know they sold out an Anonymous "hacker"^Script^Kiddie 2 years ago, but seriously, don't buy a fucking VPN with your credit card and LOIC a government website.
This HideMyAss link goes to the article from a US proxy.
I signed one for a SEO marketing company I worked for. Place was a fucking scam.
Company would charge other businesses 4-5 digit monthly fees to maintain their social presence and claim 24/7 live tech support coverage which was a fucking lie. We worked 8-5 m-f and all we did was try to report any negative (but im sure honest) reviews and post bullshit 5 star reviews all the while hiding behind the VPN program HMA (HideMyAss). It was sleazy as fuck and we got paid in pennies when the owners were making hundreds of thousands weekly running this scam.
Yeah look up Vypr in /r/VPN. The VPN service itself forwards the complaint to your ISP just as if you weren't using a VPN service at all. More crappier VPNs like HideMyAss though I've only ever seen email the user only telling them to stop or they'll close the account though that's a UK based service unlike Vypr in the USA (though they claim to be Swiss based since they registered off shore as a GmbH.
If you do proceed to use the dark net, use Tails, a tor client, and store it on a USB stick to use. Not your desktop. For added protection PAY for a VPN service. Nothing free, because nothing is truly free. If you need an email for say, forums or a market, there are some out there like HideMyAss(there are better) that are anonymous mail hosts. I hope this helped! GL and never download.
Privnote and the like are total shit, and it's disgusting that anyone in this community uses them for anything. It's like handing your messages over to LE personally. I mean what the fuck people, stop having "trust a third party 100%" be a part of your security model. It's amazing to me that people still don't get it.
HushMail sold out its users. HideMyAss sold out its users. Crypto AG was a front from the get-go. Safe-mail sold out its users. These are just a few of the services that we know about. When the option exists, why would anyone not ensure their own security/privacy, with software running on their own computer?
I kinda just went with PIA because the reviews were good, torrenting sites said that they specifically do NOT keep user logs (there was a thing way back when a VPN, HideMyAss, turned over a hacker's logs to authorities when they claimed they didn't keep traffic logs), and the price was right.
Their client is excellent - it's super lightweight, with a click of a button I can be connecting from plenty of high speed servers in the U.S., or I can beam in from Switzerland, Hong Kong, anything - it's really solid. If you buy 6 months at a time it's like barely $4/mo and I've been really happy with it!
I've used them for 3 or so years though so I haven't shopped around recently. Maybe there's better out there, but I don't think you can go wrong! I'd search or ask around on torrent forums/websites, they tend to have stronger opinions about VPN providers :)
Never trust a free vpn service. They have to make money off you somehow, so they will definitely be keeping logs on visitors. Check out the person who HideMyAss sold out a couple years ago. He was using their free vpn.
HideMyAss will sell your ass to your Government and they do log your activity. Avoid all US/CA/EU/HK/AU VPN Service Providers at all costs, do your research and you'll see those countries Governments will force VPN Service Providers to either give up User Data and or force them to start logging User Data.
Always read the ToS/Privacy Policy and ask some serious questions to the VPN Service Providers, if they can't answer your question and or completely refuses to answer AWAY!
I digress...
You could try a VPN if it's a content filter they've put on. It'd be a tad trickier on an Android phone than on a desktop PC, but I am positive HideMyAss VPN have a version of their software for Droid.
Maybe worth checking out if you have no access to mobile internets
Are you using it for music or films as well? I assume both since you mentioned Netflix too. If you were happy enough to listen to music only at the gym you could also go for Spotify premium if you don't already have it, and create offline playlists of your favourite workout songs? I dunno.
Let me guess, you have are a very particular set of skills. Skills you have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make you a nightmare for EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE INTERNET.
delete cache, delete cache, delete cache
changer username
**
Start Private Browsing
As mentioned above, even if you hide your IP now, if the attacker has your older one and it's still the same, you're still in danger.
Well, I don't see anything wrong by going on Skype with a public proxy, as long as it's an anonymous one. You can take a look at HideMyAss' public proxy list which is updated every day. Professional DDoS protection can cost up to hundreds of dollars, which is not affordable for everyone, not even webmasters can afford this sometimes.
As I said before, logging into Skype with your real IP address is really dangerous and if the attacker gets it, you can be DDoSed at any time he wants to. No matter how many VPNs or proxies you hide behind. So, you log in from a proxy account to remove the last known IP address from your Skype profile, then leave that Skype and create a new one while you're playing a game which no one knows about.
Read this — it's not a new article, but it's damn good.
Do not go with HideMyAss, as they've proven that they will sell you out to the authorities.
Go with someone that doesn't keep logs.
iPredator has the shittiest speeds. I'd love to support iPredator, but it isn't worth it. StrongVPN logs everything and will terminate your account for P2P usage — I imagine those logs would come in handy to prosecutors and their corporate arms if they obtain a court order. There are lots of VPNs using 2048 bit encryption, so pick someone else.
How much are you looking to spend?
Check out for an OK comparison tool too.
As someone who uses HideMyAss, I have to say, it depends what you're relying on the VPN for. HMA claims they will only give originating IP if they're approached by law enforcement, which seems reasonable, but I mean anyone who walks up with a subpoena is clearly going to be able to get the information they're seeking, if not your payment info, your originating IP address. If you're relying on a VPN for absolute privacy against legality, pay your VPN provider in bitcoin over Tor and only connect to it via Tor. That said, I still pay HMA because they give me access to IPs all over the planet and the ability to change my IP at any time I want, great if you have a tendency to get banned from online services or need immunity against a DDoS attack that could be launched at your IP.
Engaging with large corporations and the state as little as possible - and helping others do the same - is my emerging lifestyle as a Christian anarchist. It's better to get Mullvad VPN and Firefox, with a ton of privacy plugins installed (like Ghostery and HideMyAss). That way you can do unfiltered research while providing no marketable or searchable data.
Good sign in principle, but context in that article doesn't seem to be privacy. The context is GDPR and how some US-based news sites didn't bother complying and hence instead just blocked access completely from EU.
Bad sign: among the recommended ones are HideMyAss and Hotspot Shield, both are awful and should not be used.
I've found Express VPN to be excellent. It has an app lock so if the VPN drops (hardly ever) it prevents your torrent app from working, thus stopping torrent detection by your ISP and pesky copyright lawyers. I was using HideMyAss but they cancelled my account after I ignored repeated warnings not to torrent copyrighted material. No such hassle from Express VPN.
Private Internet Access, NordVPN, TorGuard, HideMyAss, etc, etc
I disagree with the people saying that its either your ISP or your VPN provider spying on you. Without a VPN, your identity could be studied by websites where you don't have an account. Most modern VPN services offer cycling IP addresses. You VPN provider's business model would be to protect your identity. They will definitely have a high interest in resisting unwarranted probes into your activity, or at least have the most incentive to alert you when they are being spied on.
Tor is your friend. Alternatively, sign up to a VPN like HideMyAss. If you are really paranoid about snoopers, there are a myriad of ways to circumvent this bill. Low intelligence is your only obstacle.
Before using a VPN survive you should look into the company running it and ask yourself what their business model is. There are many unscrupulous and/or fly-by-night companies operating VPN services that should not be trusted at any cost.
Example: HideMyAss.
What happened with hidemyass? I currently use them for torrenting.
As far as using non-U.S. based VPNs, what about speeds? I connect to a server that is only a 6 hour drive from me. I get ping's of around 60-70ms. When I pinged iPredator's servers it was around 150ms. Won't that hurt my download times? And should I care about using a U.S. based if all I'm doing is torrenting?
Edit: HideMyAss logs everything you do. I received a letter this morning reporting a complaint they got about a file I was downloading, with the LOG information on the file.
I am not going to comment on the legality but for what it's worth, JBL uses something similar called HideMyAss since he lives in Bermuda.
I'm a Sky user - my VPN of choice is HideMyAss which lets you chose almost any other country in the world, and their desktop and mobile apps are really easy to use - I even got my technophobic sister using it (she wanted to watch stuff on Netflix in the US and managed to install it on her Android phone and set it up). I usually use it to connect to a torrent site, then disconnect once the download has started as it's faster that way.
I did once get and mail from them saying someone had reported the IP I was using for copyright stuff, but they only give you a notice, they don't cut you off.
>Terms of Service: Do not upload images that you do not own the rights to. Do not upload images that are illegal in the USA. Do not upload files that are not legal in the country you reside in. Do not upload files that are not images. Do not upload harmful files or images.
>You must agree to the terms in order to upload to AnonImg.
As users of HideMyAss learned, it's important to read TOS carefully. Kudos on making yours short-n-sweet. I'll assume you're a U.S. company, and respond to subpoenas. So the question is, what logs do you keep? When someone uploads an image, do you store their IP address and/or image metadata, and if so, for how long?
I use HideMyAss.
Are there free options? Sure. But living in Taiwan I find myself in public transport quite a bit and prefer to use a VPN that will work well on my phone.
BSG all day, all the time, no issues. And it's not too bad in terms of pricing. Good connection too.
Ironic_Ali posted this below, but you may not have seen it.
It claims here that one of lulsecs members was taken down BECAUSE HideMyAss gave him up. So HideMyAss does not seem like it should be recommended right now.
It's hard, but possible. I have a chapter in the book about that very subject.
Depends on what you're up to. If you're not doing anything illegal, you'll want to use a Web-based redirector like HideMyAss. A thicker layer of security can be provided by a proxy server like Tor or Freenet. Alternatively you may consider VPN tunneling. A combination of all these is probably the best plan if you have reason to think that someone is trying to compromise your security.
Sometimes the best thing is just to buy a new laptop with cash and only use it in various coffee shops far from home.
Thanks, bud. HideMyAss Proxies are either blacklisted or don't work. I'll check out the Expat Shield now, though
edit: so far I haven't got video to work using expatshield, maybe I'll try other pc's or browsers as I've failed with Chrome only so far.
Nordvpn is what I use. If you want to use Japan try server 566, because some of their Japan servers have to wrong country tagged.
In the long term, I might try HideMyAss as it gives more options, cause they have some of the middle eastern countries on the list like Qatar.
Just use some "free online proxy" (like HideMyAss from US location. Then click "Add to Firefox" button and install addon. You may need to log into Firefox account. Addon then works correctly as it changes IP address to nearest Cloudflare's server.
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Why is this downvoted? I tested this and it works. It obviously isn't the best way to do this, but it works.
Yeah but think about it this way:
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It is 100% certain that your ISP is monitoring and logging your traffic. Without any sort of proxy, your IP is right out there in the clear. A company goes to your ISP and says they saw your IP downloading content you shouldn't and the rest is history.
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A good VPN has a reputation to uphold. The service they are selling is anonymity and privacy. They aren't going to betray their customers to another company because then their business goes right down the tubes. Yes, some VPNs have betrayed their customers in the past (HideMyAss) so you need to do your due diligence and make sure you are getting one with a strong reputation.
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Going back to the earlier analogy, condoms aren't 100% foolproof either. But 99.5% protection is better than 0%. People without VPN's get letters. People with VPN's do not. In the end, it's really that simple.
I'm assuming you're joking, but if you aren't
There are a ton of decent VPNs out there, HideMyAss is probably okay if you are trying to bypass your schools web filter or something similarly trivial but not suitable for DNM activities.
Also, you get what you pay for. I would not expect a free VPN service to fight and keep my logs private from anyone requesting them. Read up on r/VPN if you want to find a good one.
You also have the fact that no one using their service has been busted for anything a la HideMyAss and their whole fiasco with the FBI. Until something like that happens, and is publicized (which it would) I do not believe there is any reason to worry. Especially considering they've been in business for a while now.
Yes, people have "been caught" using a VPN - most prominently, the Lulzsec hackers, using HideMyAss.
All a VPN does is route your internet activity through another server, so anything you do can be tracked to the VPN provider's IP address. If you were to commit serious crimes (i.e. large scale data theft, extortion, chldpron etc) government agencies might care enough to contact the VPN service and make them give up your logfiles, real IP, and billing address ... or even log your activity in real time on their server.
However, other third parties (i.e. digital content rightsholders) have to get a subpoena to get access to this data - and when your VPN is in a different country, especially one that doesn't compel ISPs to keep logfiles or surrender data based on copyright infringement lawsuits in other countries (i.e. China, Romania etc) chances are they won't bother.
HideMyAss and Hola are not trustworthy. I don't know about the rest, but HideMyAss keeps logs and hands them over quicker than a hiccup, rather than fight it. Hola uses Tor exit nodes which may host child porn, which could be linked back to you, regardless of how you ever used their service.
Many people are gonna tell you to use a VPN and I would like to add something else I was told when the same happened to me: You want no logs. This means that the VPN provider does not keep data regarding your activity.
You want a kill switch. This means that if your client or clients server fail your internet will shut down preventing a data leak.
You want DNS leak protection. Basically just another security measure.
You MAY want a proxy for your torrent client run by the VPN provider.
These things are the signs of a good VPN for torrent, which, by the way, no free VPN is good for, nor is HideMyAss if you come across them. I use PrivateInternetAccess, another VPN often mentioned here, and they've been pretty reliable, but all you have to do is your research on VPNs, find one you like and trust, and you should be set to torrent freely. :)
I didn't make the claim /u/micjustin33/ did.
And I never said it was proof. I said just read the first answer. I said "If you read the whole thing it has a lot of great info". I said it has some information on it, not proof.
I don't recall making any sweeping statements, but either way, you know VPN providers don't know what they are doing, so why question it? The HideMyAss fiasco is just one in itself.
HideMyAss, borga 772 kr á mánuði, algjörlga ótakmarkað. Búinn að nota þessa þjónustu í rúmlega ár, hef ekki greitt fyrir meira en 10GB niðurhal hjá Símanum síðan ég virkjaði þjónustuna.
Þú getur einnig sett HMA upp á routerinn þinn, þá er öll traffík í húsinu innanlands, alltaf.
That depends on the place. Some admit banning accounts, meaning that they know which account is using which external IP (the one that they assign and that the world sees.) This doesn't mean they can identify you, but they certainly can cut you off.
If they don't give you a unique IP, then others admit to blocking ports if they get a complaint.. meaning temporary outages of torrents, and other services are a possibility.
There could be other options. There was a big fuss over the service HideMyAss that claimed they didn't log, but ended up changing the policy and helping in a case against some hacker.
May wanna check out this article if you're using HideMyAss. Apparently, it's not as anonymous as they proclaim it to be considering it was used to track down Lulsec hackers.
However, there are two sides to every stroy. I guess it's just up to us to take what info we can and make a decision.
Seriously OP, just use a VPN. I've had great luck with both HideMyAss and Private Internet Access (the latter is what I use now). Their desktop gui is really simple and its easy connect to a server in some other country in Europe or Asia. Its also not illegal so you don't need to feel bad about it. Last year their website also never checked again for your location (only on page load) so you can turn it off once you've accessed the stream. It's a pain that we have get do anything to get around their stupid rules but this is the easiest way without using /r/nhlstreams (where there are potentially malicious ads and no-notice stream stoppages).
I think PIA didn't show up on the list because London Trust Media doesn't own an assload of VPNs. The article is about parent companies and monopolies, not individual VPNs. IF PIA is a spook company and the Feds are watching our data, they'll have to be really careful how they proceed. If one customer gets busted on shit they did over the VPN, trust is going to erode really quickly. Then the Feds will end up sifting through shemale tranny porn. People who use HideMyAss usually say that they don't care if their shit is monitored.
I use TorGuard VPN (the name has nothing to do with the Tor network, just stupid marketing). High speeds, many servers worldwide, very reliable, excellent customer service, reasonable pricing.
That said, I wouldn't feel unsafe with Nord or PIA, either. However, the ne plus ultra of VPNs, I hear, is Cryptostorm. All of these VPNs have a good reputation for protecting customer identity, don't keep logs, and have a history of telling the Feds to step off.
On the other hand, companies like HideMyAss have been known to do exactly the opposite; i.e., roll over when the Feds show up with a warrant, or even just a "request." You might as well run open, and HideMyAss should be renamed ExposeMyAss!
Same thing here in Montreal, games of the Habs are blackuout. But a use a VPN, last year its was HideMyAss. Before I connect to the NHL Center Ice I connect myself on a VPN of the USA or another province in Canada ( Alberta, BC, etc) and then connect to NHL Center Ice and I can watch the game that are blackout in my sector.
Only thing you gotta check with this method is that you have a good VPN, because if youre VPN is slow youre gonna have some feed problem or low resolution. I am able to solve this problem by connecting to my VPN, log to the game and then shut down my VPN so i'm going trought my internet connection directly. Its work all the game.
Beside that, yes its really suck that you cannot have the games of the Sabres in youre own market!!!
Hope this help, good season bros !
> Tor2web
Whatever you were doing, you were doing it wrong. If you have Orbot, you don't need tor2web. tor2web services are in a very powerful position and can be dangerous to use.
Also, that HideMyAss stuff is an advertisement. Good job.
The individual clips from each episode are not regionally blocked I think, I can watch them from my third world country in Asia. They basically just split each segment out to individual clips, so you don't actually miss much other than the intro and the Moment of Zen.
But if you really want to watch the full episode, I use a VPN service like HideMyAss. I'll just connect to pretend that I'm a New Yorker for half an hour and watch some American ads lol.
All the time. It's like buying followers on Twitter or Likes on Facebook.
You buy a few hundred of these accounts for cheap (like 25 or 50 cents each), go to a subreddit, post a link to your blog where ads are served, use your hundreds of accounts to upvote your post etc.
These are all automated where all you need is the username, password, and link to whatever it is you want to have visitors and also use something like HideMyAss so you have thousands of IPs etc etc.
Pretty common trick in black hat marketing.