Is there even a point of using a VPN on Google's Android? (Example: Watching Youtube on Firefox browser while logged-out)
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Ah, I see. At the least though, it demonstrates that it is still possible to watch YouTube via proxy.
I am not even so much concerned about Google / YT getting my IP (by using a VPN), but I would only watch it though an alternative ad-blocking frontend (like Invidious, Piped, FreeTube) and not the standard YT website or app.
None of my previously used alternative apps / frontends seems to be working anymore (at least that's my recent experience). Not sure what the difference to (Android) apps, that apparently still work (NewPipe, PipePipe) actually is, but it seems that these apps are the only remaining alternative frontends.
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Couldn't they somejow just correlate that info and know that its you watching the video. I feel like its futile...
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Couldn't they somejow just correlate that info and know that its you watching the video. I feel like its futile...
For me it's pretty much mandatory because Youtube is normally blocked
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For me it's pretty much mandatory because Youtube is normally blocked
Why is it blocked? Censorship?
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A VPN does not provide inherent inherent security. It is only as trustworthy as the entity providing it. As I understand it, A VPN to a safe LAN with firewall or such, yes. A VPN to a sketchy third party that will basically log everything you do, no.
VPN provides security in-transit between you and the VPN server. That's it. Either end can nullify that security by leaking data before or after it is encrypted.
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Yes. For me reasons of VPN on Android (even with Google) are following:
- Most of greedy apps are trying to collect info about your location. Because in most of the cases you will restrict direct access to the location data, apps will try to do it through IP. VPN resolve this problem at all.
- A lot of greedy apps or websites are trying to do fingerprinting to identity your logs. While it is possible in theory to do fingerprinting by fuzzy matching all-logs against all-logs, the task is so computationally heavy that the only way is to try to do fuzzy-matching (aka fingerprinting) within the locations. VPN allows you to hide your location.
Of course one may say that VPN does not provide a 100% protections from fingerprinting, I think there should be applied the same approach like in cyber security: the goal is not to protect yourself by 100% but to make attack so expensive that it does not make sense. VPN makes fingerprinting so hard that noone will really do it until you are a journalist, intelligence officer or something like this.
Logs? Android apps can't access other android apps logs
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Couldn't they somejow just correlate that info and know that its you watching the video. I feel like its futile...
I use another app to watch youtube, not their official app or official website.
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Logs? Android apps can't access other android apps logs
*logs on the server of app creator.
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I want to watch Youtube videos without Google knowing that it was me
3rd party YouTube client + vpn
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VPN provides security in-transit between you and the VPN server. That's it. Either end can nullify that security by leaking data before or after it is encrypted.
The traffic between the VPN and the target site is anonymous because most VPN's use a rotating IP system. If the VPN truly doesn't collect any data, the target site has no clue who is actually visiting other than that randomized IP address.
The point is, VPN's do work and the biggest caveat is finding a VPN provider that you can trust.
I use Mullvad. You don't have to give them any personal information at all.
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