VPN - a Very Precarious Narrative
2019-04-08
I just watched a
great YouTube video, touching technical, political, and philosophical questions around the whole “who controls the algorithm” topic, from one of those multi-million subscriber channels, spending lots and lots of time and resources on researching and producing. The video was perfect, but the end did upset me slightly. In the end, the sponsoring message was read, and the sponsor was one of those VPN companies, with their usual marketing lingo. You surely know what I am talking about, but let me quote the sponsoring message here for context:
Your internet connection, right now, is broadcasting your IP address, which is the way people track you online. Check this out [shows a screencap of a website displaying the IP and GeoLocation information], when I go to this website, it tests everything that my internet connection is leaking. You can see my IP address, but you can also see where I am. Your internet connection is doing this right now. Here is how [VPN company] works: It is a Virtual Private Network, you turn it on with one click. My internet traffic is now encrypted, and going through [VPN company]s servers located throughout the world, so people can no longer figure out where I am located. I protect myself online with [VPN company]. […] There is a 30-day money back guarantee which I am confident you are not going to use, because I feel comforted knowing that my personal information is protected on the internet.