Technology@lemmy.worldbyUnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
6 hours

Using a VPN May Subject You to NSA Spying

www.wired.com English

In a letter sent Thursday to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the lawmakers say that because VPNs obscure a user’s true location, and because intelligence agencies presume that communications of unknown origin are foreign, Americans may be inadvertently waiving the privacy protections they’re entitled to under the law.

Several federal agencies, including the FBI, NSA, and FTC, have recommended that consumers use VPNs to protect their privacy. But following that advice may inadvertently cost Americans the very protections they’re seeking.

The letter was signed by members of the Democratic Party’s progressive flank: Senators Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren, Edward Markey, and Alex Padilla, along with Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Sara Jacobs.

38
    US lawmakers are pressing Tulsi Gabbard to reveal whether using a VPN that connects to overseas servers can strip Americans of their constitutional protections against warrantless surveillance.
    • trackball_fetish@lemmy.wtfEnglish
      2 hours

      The entirety of this has made me furious so I’m leaving a comment to remember to come back and soapbox in a bit.

    • chunes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2 hours

      Americans may be inadvertently waiving the privacy protections they’re entitled to under the law.

      lmao

      • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        58 minutes

        Yeah. That really jumped out at me. My very first thought was “Americans have privacy protections?” Since Roe v Wade was overturned, Americans have basically no right to privacy.

    • BassTurd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2 hours

      I’m curious how this works in action. If you use a VPN provider that doesn’t do logging, and inherently you’re traffic is encrypted via that VPN, what are they spying on? That’s kind of the whole purpose of running a VPN in the first place.

      If they happen to somehow see the unencrypted traffic, I hope they enjoy sifting through ass loads of torrent data. Good luck, shit bags.

      • frongt@lemmy.zipEnglish
        20 minutes

        It’s not so much spying as moving you to the front of the line for suspicious persons.

        • krashmo@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4 minutes

          I hope I’m there already. If I’m not then I’m not being vocal enough about how much I despise the current US government

    • Railcar8095@lemmy.worldEnglish
      48 minutes

      Doesn’t CGNat obscure the user true location in the same way? And what kind of VPN are we talking about? Company with exit node in the country? Commercial ones only?

      • NarrativeBear@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3 minutes

        I guess I am on the “watch list” as my company uses multiple different VPN solutions so I can access work files cross offices and remotely when in the field.

        Also, what about personal home VPNs where I want to route all my device traffic back to my home when I am out of the house like at a cafe/mall/airport?

    • entropiclyclaude@lemmy.wtfEnglish
      2 hours

      It was the Swedes causing mass shootings in America the whole time!

      • Republicans probably
    • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
      4 hours

      Did they stop spying on americans. Im pretty sure snowden is still living in russia.

        • GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3 hours

          I took him seriously. I was a teenager when Snowden leaked those documents, and I took it seriously.

          Why do you think I’m here today?

        • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
          3 hours

          Yeah it was pretty big. So much of modern times it just boggles my mind for anyone who grew up in the 80’s. We are literally how we portrayed russia or what we would become like if we let communism win. A whistle blower had to flee to russia. 100% bin laden won. Half my life has been in this millenium and there is a stark difference before and after (even with there being plenty which headed us in this direction).

    • Ghostie@lemmy.zipEnglish
      4 hours

      “Mighty suspicious of you to protect yourself from our abuse. You must be up to no good.”

    • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4 hours

      So in the US, locking your metaphorical doors or windows, or closing your digital curtains, means that authorities can presume you are hiding something and your 4th Amendments rights cease to be valid.

      • hansolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
        4 hours

        All while abusing Third Party Doctrine to buy your data from advertisers and Palantir anyway.

        If a VPN routing of someone in Chicago is via Texas and California, what judge would see that as “foreign”? Oh, right, one of their idiot ones they like to give cases like this.

    • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zipEnglish
      5 hours

      …Americans may be inadvertently waiving the privacy protections they’re entitled to under the law.

      We have no protections and no privacy, laws or no.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4 hours

      I already assume the gubmint can see everything else I do. The VPN just keeps my ISP from cancelling my service.

    • f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      5 hours

      Old news… If you are using a VPN, it’s “foreign communications” and subject to spying; and if you aren’t using a VPN, they route the data through a room that’s considered a foreign enclave (like an embassy), turning it into “foreign communications” and subject to spying.

    • Tempus Fugit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5 hours

      Lmao, what privacy protections? This is the land of the grift, you’re more protected using a VPN than without one.

    • THE_GR8_MIKE@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5 hours

      I hope they have fun watching me pirate the entirety of the Pokémon anime then.

    • IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.comEnglish
      4 hours

      They already spy on everyone. They probably do worse and promote social manipulation too.

      Humanity is owned. And they are trying to own it further with air and digitizing everything. And they will succeed because most people don’t give a fuck and just consume all the bullshit and lifestyles marketed to them.