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Comment by matunixe | Hacker News Reader

There is no privacy without open source software. This article with the recommandations to buy Netgear stuff or commercials VPN services is just a farce.

The author don't know shit, writing this type of false articles will lead to another privacy disaster.

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Whether the server is free / open source software is irrelevant to the matter of privacy with a VPN. It's running on someone else's computer, so you have no way of proving what is running, or more importantly, what isn't running - the service provider can run OpenVPN and also tcpdump, both of which are free software. You need to trust the provider not to monitor your traffic, and perhaps not to be easily compelled to monitor your traffic on someone else's behalf.

(The same is true of Tor exit nodes, incidentally, and it's very easy for an intelligence agency to run Tor and tcpdump.)

If you actually want a VPN, one of your best options is to use a commercial service that has a reputation to uphold. Some fly-by-night "non-profit" is probably a front for a miscreant running tcpdump. (And there is no conflict with a commercial service running open source code, as I'm sure you know!)

Having source isn't necessary, nor is it sufficient to determine what the software on a device is doing.

It's often convenient, but just having some source doesn't actually ensure that is the code running on the device.

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