Here’s How to Protect Your Privacy From Your Internet Service Provider

[steven36]

We pay our monthly Internet bill to be able to access the Internet. We don’t pay it to give our Internet service provider (ISP) a chance to collect and sell our private data to make more money. This was apparently lost on congressional Republicans as they voted to strip their constituents of their privacy. Even though our elected representatives have failed us, there are technical measures we can take to protect our privacy from ISPs.

 

 

 

Bear in mind that these measures aren’t a replacement for the privacy rules that were repealed or would protect our privacy completely, but they will certainly help.

Pick an ISP that respects your privacy

It goes without saying: if privacy is a concern of yours, vote with your wallet and pick an ISP that respects your privacy. Here is a list of them.

Given the dismal state of ISP competition in the US, you may not have this luxury, so read on for other steps you can take.

Opt-out of supercookies and other ISP tracking

In 2014, Verizon was caught injecting cookie-like trackers into their users’ traffic, allowing websites and third-party ad networks to build profiles without users’ consent. Following criticism from US senators and FCC action, Verizon stopped auto-enrolling users and instead made it opt-in. Users now have a choice of whether to participate in this privacy-intrusive service.

You should check your account settings to see if your ISP allows you to opt-out of any tracking. It is generally found under the privacy, marketing, or ads settings. Your ISP doesn’t have to provide this opt-out, especially in light of the repeals of the privacy rules, but it can never hurt to check.

HTTPS Everywhere

EFF makes this browser extension so that users connect to a service securely using encryption. If a website or service offers a secure connection, then the ISP is generally not able to see what exactly you’re doing on the service. However, the ISP is still able to see that you’re connecting to a certain website. For example, if you were to visit https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere, your ISP wouldn’t be able to tell that you’re on the HTTPS Everywhere page, but would still be able to see that you’re connecting to EFF’s website at https://www.eff.org

While there are limitations of HTTPS Everywhere when it comes to your privacy, with the ISP being able to see what you’re connecting to, it’s still a valuable tool.

If you use a site that doesn't have HTTPS by default, email them and ask them to join the movement to encrypt the web.

VPNs

In the wake of the privacy rules repeal, the advice to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to protect your privacy has dominated the conversation. However, while VPNs can be useful, they carry their own unique privacy risk. When using a VPN, you’re making your Internet traffic pass through the VPN provider’s servers before reaching your destination on the Internet. Your ISP will see that you’re connecting to a VPN provider, but won’t be able to see what you’re ultimately connecting to. This is important to understand because you’re exposing your entire Internet activity to the VPN provider and shifting your trust from the ISP to the VPN.

In other words, you should be damn sure you trust your VPN provider to not do the shady things that you don’t want your ISP to do.

VPNs can see, modify, and log your Internet traffic. Many VPN providers make promises to not log your traffic and to take other privacy protective measures, but it can be hard to verify this independently since these services are built on closed platforms. For example, a recent study found that up to 38% of VPN apps available for Android contained some form of malware or spyware.

Below, we detail some factors that should be considered when selecting a VPN provider. Keep in mind that these are considerations for someone who is interested in preventing their ISP from snooping on their Internet traffic, and not meant for someone who is interested in protecting their information from the government—a whistleblower, for instance. As with all things security and privacy-related, it’s important to consider your threat model.

• Is your VPN service dirt-cheap or free? Does the service cost $20 for a lifetime service? There’s probably a reason for that and your browsing history may be the actual product that the company is selling to others.

• How long has your VPN provider been around? If it is relatively new and without a reliable history, you’d have to trust the provider a great deal in order to use such a service.

• Does the VPN provider log your traffic? If yes, what kind of information is logged? You should look for one that explicitly promises to not log your Internet traffic and how active the VPN provider is in advocating for user privacy.

• Does the VPN provider use encryption in providing the service? It’s generally recommended to use services that support a well-vetted open source protocol like OpenVPN or IPSec. Utilizing these protocols ensures best security available.  

• If your VPN provider uses encryption, but has a single shared password for all of the users, it’s not sufficient encryption.

• Do you need to use the VPN provider’s proprietary client to use the service? You should avoid these and look for services that you can use with an open source client. There are many clients that support the above-mentioned OpenVPN or IPSec protocols.

• Would using the VPN service still leak your DNS queries to your ISP?

• Does the VPN support IPv6? As the Internet transitions from IPv4 to the IPv6 protocol, some VPN providers may not support it. Consequently, if your digital device is trying to reach a destination that has an IPv6 address using a VPN connection that only supports IPv4, the old protocol, it may attempt to do so outside of the VPN connection. This can enable the ISP to see what you’re connecting to since the traffic would be outside of the encrypted VPN traffic.

Now that you know what to look for in a VPN provider, you can use these two guides as your starting point for research. Though keep in mind that a lot of the information in the guides is derived from or given by the provider, so again, it requires us to trust their assertions.

Tor

If you are trying to protect your privacy from your Internet company, Tor Browser perhaps offers the most robust protection. Your ISP will only see that you are connecting to the Tor network, and not your ultimate destination, similar to VPNs.

Keep in mind that with Tor, exit node operators can spy on your ultimate destination in the same way a VPN can, but Tor does attempt to hide your real IP address, which can improve anonymity relative to a VPN.

Users should be aware that some websites may not work in the Tor browser because of the protections built in. Additionally, maintaining privacy on Tor does require users to alter their browsing habits a little. See this for more information.

It’s a shame that our elected representatives decided to prioritize corporate interests over our privacy rights. We shouldn’t have to take extraordinary steps to limit how our personal information can be used, but that is clearly something that we are all forced to do now. EFF will continue to advocate for Internet users’ privacy and will work to fix this in the future.

 By Amul Kalia

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/04/heres-how-protect-your-privacy-your-internet-service-provider

 

[pc71520]

https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en

 

[steven36]

I dont see no ISP  sponsoring  TOR  on that list ? That would be a oxymoron ! this topic is not about  avoiding U.S. Government  surveillance noways it's how to avoid you're ISP from spying on you and selling you're data  on the clearnet. everyone already knows the FBI can exploit it because they let a pedo go too keep there Tor exploit safe they used on the darknet. If you dont use a TOR or VPN  they can get what they need without even using a exploit so  you make it very easy on them

 

They have caught a 100 times more people from  getting isp records and matching it up with peoples surfing habits  via Facebook , Google services etc than the darketnet witch is very small compared to the open internet . Because of people being sloppy and leaving a public footprint and they just connected the dots.  If very many people got busted on the Darknet no one would use it  to commit crimes anymore , Crime would exist without it anyways . But since the darknet is full of crime shows law enforcement is not doing a very good job. They cant stop crime on the open internet let alone were people are hiding on the darknet.    .But this is a whole different  topic.  but as far as I know the USA dont censor the internet  noways some companies like Google and Microsoft Bing do because of pressure from Europe  witch In the USA freedom of speech is a first amendment right and in Europe they think tech firms  should be fined for .allowing it  Millions of people use TOR for all kinds of things  so yes different groups give them donations .

 

Quote

They protect their privacy from unscrupulous marketers and identity thieves. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) sell your Internet browsing records to marketers or anyone else willing to pay for it. ISPs typically say that they anonymize the data by not providing personally identifiable information, but this has proven incorrect. A full record of every site you visit, the text of every search you perform, and potentially userid and even password information can still be part of this data. In addition to your ISP, the websites (and search engines) you visit have their own logs, containing the same or more information.

Who uses TOR

https://www.torproject.org/about/torusers.html.en

Google and Facebook helped ISPs kill FCC privacy rules in fear of if they stop ISPs they would make laws preventing  them too harvest data latter on.

 

Quote

They also got a surprising assist from groups representing big tech firms like Google and Facebook, which feared that similar regulations could someday curtail their own ability to harvest their users' data.

https://secure.politico.com/story/2017/03/broadband-data-victory-republicans-236760

 

[pc71520]

Someone worries *so much* about the ISPs malpractices

while Security, Intelligence & Surveillance agencies

have actually tampered everything

(from Security-software vendors & Search Engines to ISPs

and from VPNs to High-Tech Hardware manufacturers).

 

"Miss the Forest for the tree(s)..."

[steven36]

 

3 hours ago, pc71520 said:

Someone worries so much about some ISPs malpractices

while Security, Intelligence & Surveillance agencies

have actually tampered everything

(= from Security-software vendors and Search Engines to ISPs

and from VPNs to High-Tech Hardware manufacturers).

 

LOL , I never used privacy software to  avoid government surveillance  and have never been scared of the USA government  if you are that's you're problem not mine . I never even used a VPN tell 2011 or  and I  used p2p , uploaded  and shared  files on warez sites every days for years .and no one bothered me at all. 

 

I stared using VPNs  a few years before the Snowden leaks the reason was  I started  using them was  our ISPs started sending out warnings  too users who downloaded from p2p  we were reported by non government entries that worked for Hollywood  ..Paid Trolls  ... This was never a law  were isps were allowed to do this it was on a volunteer basis  Ive even ran into these type trolls on this site . We dont have ISPs  doing this  anymore but  that dont stop a paid troll from taking you to court..  They have always allowed ISPs too make there own rules . When you talk about vpn and tor  that  is you're opinion  vs millions and millions of people who use them everyday  so it sort of  makes you're debate moot. The USA  Government  is the lest of my worries

 

it's Tech Firms .ISPs  .websites and everything  else spying on me that worries me its none of there business what my real IP is i dont sign in to Google ,Facebook ,Microsoft etc and i  use a vpn all the time  and if I use TOR i use it with a vpn.  Just like I use Ublock origin and other addons  to block ads and trackers and configure Firefox were it dont call  home and block Microsoft  Windows and most other apps with a firewall  I use a VPN and Tor  and stick my middle finger up at Google and ISPs now who try too harvest my data for there own greed..   like i have been doing for 6 years now and Uncle Sam has never bothered me before or after the fact i started using privacy software   If they are bothering you you must of did something are know something  you should  not ?

[Togijak]

10 minutes ago, steven36 said:

If they are bothering you you must of did something are know something  you should  not ?

 

most time that is right but sometimes they fuck you without the reason that you did something (remember the movie Enemy of the State)

[steven36]

1 hour ago, Togijak said:

 

most time that is right but sometimes they fuck you without the reason that you did something (remember the movie Enemy of the State)

Ive had run in with the the law  never nothing major  and never no Government agents have came too  visit me in my whole life  Ive seen them around talking too others though just because they talk too you dont mean they will do anything. it  may just mean they think you know something  One of there CIs can lie and tell them you know something even and they will check it out i seen it happen before and Im no spring chicken. It was always the local law enforcement  who bothered me. As far as on the web i never had no trouble at all . The trouble I had with local law enforcement was in real life , some of it was my  fault and some of was not  and i have no real control over but by there rules it was wrong . So I had to do what I had to do. They can kill me but they cant eat  me .

 

I know a guy who killed 2 people and injured another  in real life and he paid his debt to society and  has been a free man for many years now living a happy life. old saying is if you do the crime you should be willing too do the time. President Obama let all kinds of people go for crimes  before he got out of office . You know what sucks about this? The jails are full of people who didn't really do anything wrong and he let people who did go free.

 

And most people I know in real life who pulled time or/and  had runins with the law it was not because of nothing they did on no internet  . You dont need the internet to get in trouble with the law it's not very hard to do offline and sometimes it just happens and really it was just fate life handed  you a bad set of cards but they just was doing there job so i dont blame them I blame it on the system  .I think the internet sort of keeps people out of trouble. if they was too mess up the internet were  it is no more fun anymore then people will go back too the streets and hang out like I done before I had the internet and then chances you will have a run in with the law increase too 100%