I see people say that NordVPN is a bad choice all the time, but I’ve never seen any credible evidence that they’re not trustworthy. Can anyone provide any sources with valid reasons to avoid their service? I only know that they had some servers hacked in 2018, but it seems as though they took that very seriously and upgraded their hardware and encryption accordingly. I’m just trying to decide if I want to start looking at alternatives, but honestly I’m pretty satisfied with my experience so far.
I think the reason you stated is probably the main reason for most of the hate. I’ve been a Nord user for years and have no complaints. However, I am currently considering switching to Firefox VPN because I want to financially support Firefox development and that’s one of the best ways to do it.
Isn’t the Firefox VPN just a rebrand of Mullvad or something? Like they just use their servers and put in their logo?
I have been using PIA for the last few years and I am personally pretty happy. I had some issues with Nord connect and speed a few years back. PIA on wireguard has worked great for me. I have a gigabit connection and although I can’t hit that with pia, my Unraid SabNZB hits over 70MB/s easy which is great
PIA can be a little slow, but the big difference (and reason I use it) is that they don’t keep any logs. A VPN provider gets a subpoena and they will turn over the history of what you did under there service. To my knowledge PIA is one of the few (like 2-3 I thought) that keeps no records and couldn’t cooperate if they wanted to. I’m like 7 years deep with them and they still roll out new features and servers all the time. I consider them a pillar of what a VPN should be.
Not saying we should trust it or anything but NordVPN does have a “no-logs” policy.
In a nutshell – it transforms your PC/phone into a honeypot for third parties.
Most VPN services are a sham. They just hide your network activity from your ISP, however they have full visibility in to your network traffic. Some of these VPN providers are even owned by ad agencies, but advertise privacy as a selling point. You’re better off running your own WireGuard or OpenVPN server at home or with a VPS. At least you will have control over the server and limit your exposure to unscrupulous VPN companies. (Yes using a VPS is shifting the trust from one to the other, but you will have to make a decision that is right for you.)
They store your IP, and they use it. I think that sums all up. The point of vpn is to be private, and if you’re giving up your IP to a third party, you’ve done nothing with the vpn.