Complete anonymity possible? If not anything close to it?

ithehappy

Senior member
Oct 13, 2013
540
4
81
I use Tor browser. Does that do anything to hide your identity? If not what shall I use? I have heard about VPN and stuffs, but hold no idea about them :(

HNY to all.
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
I wouldn't be shocked if Tor was run by the CIA or China's version of the CIA. The protocol itself was invented by the navy according to wikipedia.
 

ithehappy

Senior member
Oct 13, 2013
540
4
81
I wouldn't be shocked if Tor was run by the CIA or China's version of the CIA. The protocol itself was invented by the navy according to wikipedia.
That's exactly what I worry about.

So what's my best bet here?
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,238
10,684
126
Tor is fine. The code's libre, and audited. It also has a big bullseye on its back, and requires sacrifices to work at its best. If you're using Tor to sign into facebook, you're doing it wrong ;^)
 

Jeffg010

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,435
1
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https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/10973/ipvanish-review-3/

This is what I use for VPN but I will I'm still on XP and I have had it flake out when trying to connect but that was only 2 times when in the 2 months I have had it. Why I I choose it was because of this

"IPVanish now runs a full ‘zero logs’ policy. Unlike with a number of companies if you are paying with BitCoin, all that is required for signing up, is an email address and a password – the former of which could be anonymous."
 

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
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There's no such thing as "zero logs." Many offer zero logs, but that isn't entirely true.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,777
7,328
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"IPVanish now runs a full ‘zero logs’ policy. Unlike with a number of companies if you are paying with BitCoin, all that is required for signing up, is an email address and a password – the former of which could be anonymous."

CIA: "How do we track people who want to be anonymous?"

Intern: "Just create a VPN host and add a disclaimer that says 'we don't track you, promise!' Nobody will question it!"

CIA: "Genius!"
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
7,397
3,022
146
Tor is alright, but it has its faults. I would use a VPN from VPN.AC or the popular PIA. I blogged about this very thing. http://blog.systechforum.net/?p=28
Thanks for the suggestion. Last night I went and checked out their website and did a little research, read some reviews, ect. It seems like they are a solid vpn that values your privacy. I went ahead and purchased 3 months for around $15. They're running a special right now 35% off.:thumbsup:

This is my first experience using a vpn so I'm kind of excited to see how it goes.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
126
Thanks for the suggestion. Last night I went and checked out their website and did a little research, read some reviews, ect. It seems like they are a solid vpn that values your privacy. I went ahead and purchased 3 months for around $15. They're running a special right now 35% off.:thumbsup:

This is my first experience using a vpn so I'm kind of excited to see how it goes.

When push comes to shove, they will throw anyone under the bus.
They ALL have logs, they ALL monitor what you do, they ALL lie about keeping no logs.
The ones that are not in the US can even be worse... so, the question is, how many VPN hosts do you wish to pay for to make it more difficult to find out where you are coming from ?
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
7,397
3,022
146
Chill out man....This was more of a "Oh cool. I've always wanted to try this." thing vs. "Oh god I want to hide my emails to ISIS from the CIA" thing.

In my research last night I read the same things you just mentioned. Vpn.ac got good marks and was running a special. It cost me $5 a month to play around with it. I spend more than that on a pack of smokes and a case of beer.
 

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
LOL! You got lucky on that sale, man. I payed like $22 for three months. If I knew how to use Bitcoin I would have used that for complete anonymity.

I especially like the stand along client VPN.AC uses. The one with PIA was horrible! They use Ruby.exe which plays hell on a SSD. It amazes me that VPN.AC could make a stand along client with ECC and XOR, etc and not have a massive install like PIA. When I had PIA I just used their OpenVPN credentials and then I couldn't even connect to some servers.
 
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bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
7,397
3,022
146
You should try out bitcoins John. It's pretty straight forward but like most tech there is a learning curve. I use Coinbase for all my bitcoin based transactions(I payed vpn.ac with bitcoins).

I have to admit as a n00b to vpns I do like their client software. It is very easy to use and within a few minutes I was up and running. Right now I'm using the L2TP/IPSec protocol, whatever that is, because that was their recommendation.
I'll probably futz around with the other ones tonight, but I'm going to wait until after the game. I noticed it does slow my connection down a bit which is common with any vpn.
 

giggity

Junior Member
Jan 13, 2015
12
0
0
anyone can become a proxy in the Tor network, i think i heard in the news about the feds having a network of servers in the Tor network, i could be wrong though. but they could easily do it, and then monitor traffic from their network.

vpn is definitely the way to go. find a vpn company that keeps zero logs and you'll be set. i know there are a few out there too.
 

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
anyone can become a proxy in the Tor network, i think i heard in the news about the feds having a network of servers in the Tor network, i could be wrong though. but they could easily do it, and then monitor traffic from their network.

vpn is definitely the way to go. find a vpn company that keeps zero logs and you'll be set. i know there are a few out there too.


You didn't click my blog link in post #5, did you?