The DARK side of VPNs

It turns out that an overwhelming number of VPNs are actively harvesting and selling your data, capturing passwords / credentials / movements from your web activities, and doing all sorts of awful things.

VPNs can be super useful: to help you watch the Netflix catalogue of another country, avoid government surveillance and censorship under oppressive regimes, hide your IP address from websites, stay safe on public wifi, and stop your ISP from spying on your internet activities.

But it REALLY depends on which VPN you’re using.

In this video we’re going to explore which VPN companies own which review sites, which VPN permissions demand far too much access to your machine, which code has appalling security, and the giant red flags in a lot of this code that scream data collection.

00:00 Private Private Super Secret Secure VPN!
00:42 Intro
02:33 What VPNs Do
04:17 The Risk of Free VPN Services
05:30 1clickVPN
07:15 FreeVPN
08:44 ZenMate
10:03 AZA VPN and HULA VPN
11:29 NordVPN and ExpressVPN
14:01 Kape Technologies
15:23 Ziff Davis and White Labeling
16:42 Chinese Data Collection
18:04 Affiliate Sponsorships
18:57 Final Tips
19:21 Support NBTV/Outro

When you’re choosing a VPN or other tools for your privacy arsenal, it’s a good idea to do your own research and see what the security experts are saying. There’s some great information out there, but you do need to learn how to look for it.

Special Thanks to Jonathan Tomek for sharing his awesome research with us for this video!

More details in Consumer Reports:
https://digital-lab-wp.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VPN-White-Paper.pdf

Brought to you by NBTV members: Lee Rennie, Reuben Yap, Sam Ettaro, Will Sandoval, and Naomi Brockwell.

To support NBTV, visit https://www.nbtv.media/support
(tax-deductible in the US)

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Beware of scammers, I will never give you a phone number or reach out to you with investment advice. I do not give investment advice.

Visit the NBTV website:
https://nbtv.media

Watch this video on Odysee!
https://open.lbry.com/@NaomiBrockwell:4/vpn-scandals:5
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Here are a bunch of products I like and use. Using these links helps support the channel and future videos!

Recommended Books:

Permanent Record - Edward Snowden
https://amzn.to/305negc

No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State - Glenn Greenwald
https://amzn.to/2UQmJ4m

What has the government done to our money - Rothbard
https://amzn.to/2KMzmcu

Extreme Privacy - Michael Bazzel (The best privacy book I've ever read)
https://amzn.to/3BLZ1gq

Naomi's Privacy Bag: some of my favorite products to help protect your privacy!

Use the Brave browser! https://brave.com/nao076

USB-C to ethernet adapter:
https://amzn.to/2lOVBoy

Faraday bag (signal stopping, to protect your fob, credit card, computer, and phone)
https://amzn.to/3DjIvCP

Data Blocker (if you're charging your phone in an unknown port, use this so that no data is transferred)
https://amzn.to/2SVh0J2

Computer privacy screen (use your computer in public? Keep your information safe! Choose the size right for your computer)
https://amzn.to/3F816Sn

Phone privacy screen (don't let people in public see your private data, choose the size for your phone)
https://amzn.to/3wNtYwb

Camera cover (for computers and phones, so no one can access your camera without you knowing)
https://amzn.to/2Mt7Hic

Privacy Tip: Turn off your wifi and bluetooth when you're not using them!!!