PIA ?Private? Internet Access

[JoJoNL]

Hi Guys,

A good friend of mine is a reporter and somewhat unfortunately was sent to a not so safe area in the world (don't want to offend anyone, so not going to name the country).

The government over there has been known to prosecute or simply imprison journalists and critics.
Being a long time LTT fan I recommended her PIA. It has been working very well for me. She tested it out over there. IP-address location shows her in the country she connects to, so that works fine. But mapping services, Google maps, Bing maps still show her actual location. So now we're worried about how safe it is.  

[Spotty]

8 minutes ago, JoJoNL said:

But mapping services, Google maps, Bing maps still show her actual location. So now we're worried about how safe it is. 

Is she using a mobile device?
Those services will be using the devices built in location services (GPS) to track her location - not the IP address.

[Onboard87]

a lot of those programs use physical GPS location or closest location to a server. there is no way around this. the best thing to do if she needs GPS is buy a actual GPS like a Garmin ect. as the VPN will counsel her location when it exits google maps knows all to get you directions.  

[JoJoNL]

That's the weird thing. She was using her laptop (with no GPS) to check her location on Google maps and Bing maps websites. Because she's logged in, chrome doesn't ask to allow or deny location services. Bing maps doesn't ask at all, logged in or not. Thinking now, maybe she allowed it before and now it's in the cookie jar.
Still don't see how the maps services can know without GPS?!

[desertcomputer]

I would suggest having look at google outline or shadowsock (source for google outline) and best is buy a server located where he/she is going. It will be cheaper if you just rent a few month at a time compare to buying a 1-2 year plan from VPN provider. Plus Shadowsock is usable in China(70-80% of actual speed) and im pretty sure if that works really great unlike openvpn which get throttled like hell. This will sure work in essentially any network as shadowsock hide itself as HTTPS traffic.

 

She should just disable GPS, i personally bring a spare phone when visiting overseas with no personally data on it.

[JoJoNL]

3 hours ago, EMC said:

I would suggest having look at google outline or shadowsock (source for google outline) and best is buy a server located where he/she is going. It will be cheaper if you just rent a few month at a time compare to buying a 1-2 year plan from VPN provider. Plus Shadowsock is usable in China(70-80% of actual speed) and im pretty sure if that works really great unlike openvpn which get throttled like hell. This will sure work in essentially any network as shadowsock hide itself as HTTPS traffic.

 

She should just disable GPS, i personally bring a spare phone when visiting overseas with no personally data on it.

Had a look. Shadowsocks bypasses sensorship, but it doesn't ensure anonymity. So that's not an option. Thanks for the tip though.

[desertcomputer]

1 hour ago, JoJoNL said:

Had a look. Shadowsocks bypasses sensorship, but it doesn't ensure anonymity. So that's not an option. Thanks for the tip though.

It does if you rent from reputable hosting service ... It way better than paying for actual VPN company. You can also have look at Stunnel+OpenVPN which also works. As long as shadowsocks is setup probably is it encrypted traffic. 

 

https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand

 

Your traffic won't be mix with other users traffic but this can easily overcome if you have setup your virtual server to do place random request to websites etc.

 

[Jovidah]

Using a VPN in such countries is like putting a giant bullseye on yourself for intelligence services and marking yourself as a person of interest. Thinking a VPN will protect you is at best naive. VPNs are great against stuff like copyright trolls and such (due to their limited investigative powers), but I wouldn't rely on it for the safety of either yourself or your sources, especially in an undemocratic country.

It might protect the contents of your internet traffic, but it will only increase the likelihood of old fashioned eaves-dropping, government-sanctioned burglaries and unplanned stays at a government-run 'bed & breakfast'.

[JoostinOnline]

Using Chrome when you want privacy is a horrible idea. It's practically spyware, all outlined in their user agreement.