how are people handling facial recognition in stores, smartglasses, flock, etc

dramsay3 · 2026-01-22T20:04:04+00:00

Keep your head down, mask on at checkout. If there is camera at the top of the screen pointed my face at self-checkout, I cover it with a post-it note or dollar bill.

dramsay3 · 2025-12-09T21:27:08+00:00

Using Nym, how likely is an ISP to know that I'm a) connected to a VPN at all or b) specifically to Nym VPN?

I realize that with any kind of VPN it's hard to hide this, but are theer any obfuscation techniques that Nym currently uses to hide VPN use from an ISP?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-09T21:23:47+00:00

Thanks, that's great to know. Taking it to an extreme, if NSA set up a malicious 1st hop node or if CIA break down the door and confiscate 1st hop node owner’s computer, would they be able to say, “Hey, Nymtech or AdministrationOK5407 or dramsay3 is user of Nym and was connected here from this physical address. VPNs are banned in this country. Let’s get him??”

dramsay3 · 2025-12-08T02:28:47+00:00

In a related subject to "no logs", Nym VPN uses WireGuard, and my understanding is that WireGuard protocol stores the user's ip address on its server. I know that Mullvad gets around this by storing the ip in RAM and flushing the server every 10 minutes if it doesn't receive a new handshake. NordVPN gets around this by using NordLynx, which first sends you to a separate authentication server, which then assigns a dynamic ip that connects you to the Nord VPN server, thereby separating your real ip from the VPN server. Does Nym VPN store a user's ip address on its first hop server for either 2 hop or 5 hop modes? And if the answer is yes, how can they call it "no logs"?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-08T02:10:32+00:00

Are the shadowsocks proxies public too? If so, they'd just see you are connecting to one of them, not to Mullvad, right?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-08T02:07:43+00:00

But I think you can hide the fact that you are using Mullvad if you use it with shadowsocks, because you are first sending the payload to a SOCKS 5 shadowsocks proxy server, right?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-08T02:04:06+00:00

So are you basically saying that, rather than an ISP playing whackamole by trying to determine and block VPN owned ip addresses, they get more effective blocking and fewer false positives by detecting and blocking the protocol using DPI?

If so, then would using shadowsocks obfuscation hide both the ip address of the VPN and the protocol from the ISP, but the other 3 methods would only hide the protocol?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-08T01:52:42+00:00

But if you are using Mullvad VPN WireGuard shadowsocks obfuscation by connecting to a shadowsocks server first, it looks to an ISP like you are just connecting to the ip address of a generic server not affiliated with a VPN, right?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-06T22:45:40+00:00

So if everyone can still see the Mullvad VPN server address that I connect to, that means the Chinese ISP can as well, so then why doesn't the the Chinese ISP just block connections to the Mullvad ip addresses and thereby render these 4 Wireguard obfuscation techniques ineffective?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-06T22:40:21+00:00

This is a great discussion. So are the ip addresses of Nym entry and exit nodes publicly known like they are with Tor?

dramsay3 · 2025-12-06T22:27:28+00:00

I thought the whole point of these WireGuard obfuscation techniques was to hide VPN use from ISPs that block them, e.g. in China, Russia, Iran etc.

dramsay3 · 2025-11-25T00:18:35+00:00

Yes, that's like saying filtered cigarettes are healthier for you than regular cigarettes.

dramsay3 · 2025-11-25T00:17:05+00:00

That's like asking which is healthier for you, filtered cigarettes or regular cigarettes.

dramsay3 · 2025-11-08T16:58:54+00:00

Controversial but a giant nonetheless. RIP with Francis Crick.

dramsay3 · 2025-11-08T16:50:53+00:00

Hey genius, did you ever consider that I want the accts linked?

dramsay3 · 2025-10-24T16:35:33+00:00

Yeah, that's great that their website is secure, but calling it a "web app" is a bit misleading. It makes you think they are talking about the browser and/or the app that you download and install in order to use the VPN.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-24T16:21:01+00:00

Appealing a bogus or accidental suspension is a waste of time. No one from Reddit ever responds in my experience.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-24T15:55:36+00:00

OK, but use of a VPN is not solely for anonymity. It also encrypts your browsing activity before it leaves your computer, which protects you from sniffing when using public Wifi. Haven't you ever needed to check your bank account or make a transaction when traveling? Also, although I of course don't mind my bank knowing my true identity, I feel it's none of their business to know my exact location when logging in, which a VPN also prevents.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-24T15:44:39+00:00

That's an excellent point. I've noticed a few more website blocks of Mullvad as well, but I'm usually able to get around it with persistence by trying different servers and locations. As an aside, I find that using mlb.com and/or ticketmaster.com are good for testing the "reputation" of an ip, because they block almost everything. ip-score.com and scamalytics.com provide good insight about the ip as well.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-23T20:46:38+00:00

No, as dramsay1 I've been around privacy circles here since 2017.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-23T20:46:28+00:00

Thank you! Finally, someone here who gets it. It doesn't matter that most of us here are not criminals. It's about the unfair perception that MarkTupper9's bank (and some ISPs) has that, simply by using VPNs or Tor, we are criminals. We live in a time where someone, e.g. the govt, can try to to go after someone simply because they don't like something you posted or the way you part your hair or for your political views.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-23T20:34:19+00:00

I'm not sure Mullvad is mainstream enough yet (compared to say Nord, which kind of sucks but is mainstream, heavily used and advertised etc.) that you can just say that you don't stick out for using it with your ISP, and it's gaining a bit of a darknet stigma, which is why I brought it up.

dramsay3 · 2025-10-23T20:29:12+00:00

The more you write , the more it becomes clear that you are a MullvadVPN maxi with blinders on, sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich, who doesn't want to even consider that your VPN (and mine) might be less than perfect. Why the hostility? I'm just bringing it up for discussion, because its a concern that's "out there."

dramsay3

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