Hacker News Reader

I saw an ad for some VPN provider on a YouTube video. My eyes rolled so far I ended up looking at my own brain.

It's hard to lend any more credibility to Troy Hunt's blog post than your typical YouTube shill. The eyes are still rolling. I understand Troy's reasoning is sound, but NordVPN is _still_ the same entity who markets widely on social media platforms, mainly using strategies that include spreading FUD.

Yes it's technically safer, no you probably don't need one, yes the advertising is largely misleading/fearmongering, and yes these VPN providers would love if it became common "knowledge" that all Internet users should pay a VPN-tax on top of their ISP bill to stay safe online.

Personally, I don't consider it a tax at all.

My VPN subscription has saved me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

Genuinely: how? Is your claim quantifiable at all? I don't use a VPN, and I'm not seeing gobs of money slipping through my fingers.

Either they're saying reduced ad targeting has lowered "unwanted" purchases or they're saying that they've safely pirated software, media, book, etc. without incurred.

Now, I don't know what the expected cost of torrenting an HBO show is but I guess the parent commenter might think it's relatively high.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com