Google is phasing out VPN by Google One in favor of other features and benefits it intends to provide Google One users.
  • peereboominc@lemm.eeEnglish
    86·
    7 months ago

    I have this vpn because it comes for free with my Google Drive subscription. I have never used it because it does not do what I expect it to do

    • privacy, it’s Google.
    • pretend to be in a different country is not available
      • chiisana@lemmy.chiisana.net
        33·
        7 months ago

        Security when you’re on untrusted network. I can trust Google to snoop my banking data and update the spending power info on my ad profile, I can’t trust the random dude in trench coat also using the public wifi when I am traveling out of my roaming coverage.

        I joke of course, but the security aspect is still valid.

        • PortugalSpaceMoon@infosec.pub
          16·
          7 months ago

          What is it that you’re doing that is still not using some form of authenticated encryption? Almost everything is https, ssh, almost all mailservers have tls support, irc does have tls support… What’s left that needs to be encrypted by a VPN?

          • Vash63@lemmy.world
            5·
            7 months ago

            The addresses themselves that you’re connecting to as one example. Also often DNS.

            • chiisana@lemmy.chiisana.net
              6·
              7 months ago

              Strictly speaking, Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) paired with DNS Over HTTPS (DOH) can resolve this. But not many people have their systems setup this way, so it is still pretty niche.

              • Vash63@lemmy.world
                4·
                7 months ago

                That also doesn’t resolve the carrier seeing which IPs you’re connecting to, which can often be traced back to services or sites.

            • PortugalSpaceMoon@infosec.pub
              3·
              7 months ago

              What’s the threat model here? I can think of no DNS shennanigans that would not be detectable through the authentication mechainsms in TLS (chain-of-trust). Not having to trust network infrastructure is exactly what TLS is for.

              • chiisana@lemmy.chiisana.net
                5·
                7 months ago

                Most DNS requests are clear text, which is why DOH was introduced to secure it such that no one can snoop on you looking up something-embarrassing.com. Also, the initial request, before you get the SSL certificate from the web server, you must tell the server at 169.169.169.169 that you’re looking for the certificate for something-embarrassing.com before they can get you the correct certificate. This is why ECH was introduced. Neither of which have became mainstream yet, and so there are still some basic leakage going on.

          • Dymonika@beehaw.org
            3·
            7 months ago

            So this is a question I’ve been wondering: is public WiFi safe to treat like a private one if you’re using HTTPS everywhere?

            • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
              5·
              7 months ago

              You only use HTTPS everywhere until you don’t. It’s kinda like a security blanket to use a VPN in those situations. Someone could be running a MITM proxy and you’re dumb enough/in a rush/etc. and click accept on the expired cert. Or some new 0day vulnerability allows badness to happen without your knowledge. Even without being able to see your traffic, a bad actor could still see your DNS requests and narrow down what services you use for further targeting, especially if you frequent a place.

        • Electricblush@lemmy.world
          2·
          7 months ago

          It’s not the guy in the trenchcoat next to you you need to worry about.

          It’s the fact that some unknown entity owns/has set up the WiFi.

          Anyone working with complex network setup and admin will tell you how much you can abuse owning the network a user is connected to.

          The network guys at work never use public WiFi, not hotels or anything. Neither do I, even with my much more limited knowledge of network administration.

      • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        The biggest thing was being able to switch it on and off from the notifications menu. It is/was super convenient.

        Not surprised this is being shut down because it lacked many of the features that most major vpns had.

        But that feature was unique.

    • Salvo@aussie.zoneEnglish
      17·
      7 months ago

      Some people think that Google is trustworthy. They still believe that the motto “Do No Evil” was ever relevant.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
      2·
      7 months ago

      I use it because it comes free with a service I already pay for.

  • guy@lemmy.world
    26·
    7 months ago

    This is why I rarely get on board with new Google products nowadays. I know they’ll get half assed support and then be killed off really quickly.

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
    16·
    7 months ago

    Google, Meta, Microsoft.

    Three companies I would never trust as a VPN provider. Not necessarily in that order.

  • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    11·
    7 months ago

    Good, Google has enough access to everyone’s data already. Nobody needs to willingly give them even more access by routing all of their traffic through a Google server.