• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I don’t know how effective VPNs are over a public WiFi network, but I do know it stopped Spectrum from sending me “you are downloading copyrighted material, stop it” emails once I started using one. Fuck Spectrum, I don’t have them anymore, but that seems like a good enough reason to keep using one in certain circumstances.

    • r00ty@kbin.life
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      2 months ago

      On public WiFi I just vpn into my home network. The issue with public WiFi is that it can be sniffed by anyone in range since there is generally no encryption.

      Although pretty much everything we do is over tls these days, and DoH helps protect against even dns sniffing. There’s still at least some risk to working in the clear over a public WiFi network. At least in information gathering, what bank you use, etc.

      But, there’s no real benefit in using a paid vpn over one you own unless you’re downloading illegal content, want to watch another Netflix region, or are in a country with heavy Internet monitoring/filtering.

        • OneMeaningManyNames
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          2 months ago

          Possibly the domain is visible with a traffic monitoring tool. Everything else is between you and the bank via HTTPS. Having said that, whatever is not over https is visible to whoever sits on the same network as yourself.

          • blarth@thelemmy.club
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            2 months ago

            Importantly, you probably don’t know what all is encrypted in every app you use on your phone, so it’s best practice to encrypt the transport.

    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      All ISPs are legally obligated to forward that shit to you. The alerts are not from spectrum, they’re just relaying the information.

      Right now, copyright owners do not have legal permission to find out who you are directly without a court order. They would only seek that information if they were planning to file a lawsuit.

      Media companies know, from the Napster incident, that such actions can backfire stupendously. It’s rare that they even bother anymore. I can go into detail on why, but I’ll leave it out for brevity.

      So they send the notice to your ISP, who is legally obligated to match the information on the notice to the subscriber and forward the notice to you.

      For many, this goes to an ISP provided mailbox, which most people ignore the existence of it. Clearly spectrum operates differently.

      The notices are from copyright holders who have no idea who you are, and can’t determine that information unless they intend to sue you. So those can be, for the most part, ignored.

      It’s not your ISPs fault that you got those. They couldn’t give a shit less about what you do on their service, or what you download. They just want you to pay your bill every month and keep the gravy train rolling.

        • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          Fair enough. I haven’t used spectrum, so I have no opinion. I’m not in the right country to subscribe to their service, so there’s that.

          Have a good day.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Spectrum is a total shit ISP that does shady shit constantly, while being owned by a massive corporation run by a Trump supporter and unfortunately is the only option people have in a lot of places in the U.S.

            Anyway, good talk. You have a good day too!