Exposed: How Israeli Spies Control Your VPN (www.mintpressnews.com)
from kowanatsi@lemmy.world to privacy@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 18:00
https://lemmy.world/post/19694254

#privacy

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EndOfLine@lemmy.world on 12 Sep 2024 18:07 next collapse

I left Private Internet Access (PIA) for Proton VPN after the Kape acquisition years ago. Still happy with my decision and I recommend Proton VPN to anybody in the market for personal VPN services.

Schlemmy@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 18:10 collapse

+1 for Mulvad for what it’s worth.

c0smokram3r@midwest.social on 12 Sep 2024 18:17 next collapse

TLDR/

Kape Technologies is a major player in the online privacy world, one of the three giants that collectively control the market. It owns many of the world’s top VPNs, including ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, ZenMate, Intego Antivirus, and a host of tech websites that promote its products.

Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world on 12 Sep 2024 18:36 next collapse

Glad mullvad’s not on that list.

AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space on 12 Sep 2024 20:26 collapse

IIRC, it’s still 100% privately held by the founders, who have no intention of selling up.

Daze@sh.itjust.works on 12 Sep 2024 18:37 next collapse

fffffuckkkk, I really liked cyberghost… it always felt very minimal and not in-your-face besides the occasional sale pop-up… time to drop it like it’s hot 😢

What’s the closest safe alternative for my privacy?

c0smokram3r@midwest.social on 12 Sep 2024 18:44 collapse

Mullvad or Proton are legit choices 🥷

Daze@sh.itjust.works on 12 Sep 2024 18:46 collapse

Thank you!! 🙏

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org on 12 Sep 2024 19:32 next collapse

Needs a longer quote:

Kape Technologies is a major player in the online privacy world, one of the three giants that collectively control the market. It owns many of the world’s top VPNs, including ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, ZenMate, Intego Antivirus, and a host of tech websites that promote its products. Kape brands can be seen sponsoring a wide array of public figures, such as Tucker Carlson, Angry Video Game Nerd, Drew Gooden, Lex Fridman, Cody Ko, Uncle Roger, and Ben Shapiro.

So they’re basically evil.

“We are living in an era of tyranny,” Shapiro says in one video endorsing the company, adding:

And far-right shills are mindlessly promoting them.

Evil with a capital evil.

Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works on 12 Sep 2024 20:46 next collapse

I know you aren’t calling AVGN or Drew Gooden far-right shills but seeing their names in that list I’d really funny.

antmzo220@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 22:03 next collapse

The fact Cody Ko fits both 💀

Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works on 12 Sep 2024 23:36 collapse

Frankly im just not sure who that is

antmzo220@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 23:48 collapse

He was similarly just an online personality (YouTuber, funny commentary)just like Drew Gooden, until recently it was revealed he hooked up with a minor, knowing they were a minor (like 9 years ago or so)

It’s funny because a couple months ago someone would have left a similar comment as you about him being included, but now he belongs with those other “evil” people.

Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works on 13 Sep 2024 00:44 next collapse

Oh that dude. My wife mentioned him.

Cataphract@lemmy.ml on 13 Sep 2024 14:32 next collapse

oh phew, for a second I thought you were saying that about Gooden. I don’t watch him all the time but I’ve ran into some of his videos that I enjoyed. Don’t think I’ve ever ran into cody so thankfully that’s a bullet dodged.

LiveLM@lemmy.zip on 14 Sep 2024 02:01 collapse

I’ve learned this information a while ago and I’m still upset.
Seems like every time I stop watching a YouTuber for a while, I come back later and whoops! turns out they did something awful! 🙄

TriflingToad@lemmy.world on 13 Sep 2024 03:23 collapse

skimming the text I’m just like “yeah corporation, yeah yeah monopoly, yeah yeah angry video game nerd, yeah yeah WAIT WHAT”

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 13 Sep 2024 09:24 collapse

It seems like they have VPN services and they don’t really care who uses them. Business doing business things

davel@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 20:15 collapse

New tagline just dropped: Kape Technologies, the MindGeek of VPN

steventhedev@lemmy.world on 12 Sep 2024 18:28 next collapse

Holy propaganda batman!

The list of articles on that website is…extremely focused on one subject only.

frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml on 12 Sep 2024 18:47 collapse

I hope you hold that same energy for CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press, and Reuters.

hellfire103@lemmy.ca on 12 Sep 2024 19:14 next collapse

Yeah, I wouldn’t trust anything these guys publish: mediabiasfactcheck.com/mint-press-news/

davel@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 20:03 next collapse

I wouldn’t trust anything at MB/FC. I trust Alan Macleod’s work, though. If you want to actually understand the media, he wrote a book on it: Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent.

Pherenike@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 21:11 collapse

He edited that book, didn’t write it, but okay, I like him too. His work on propaganda about Venezuela is fantastic.

davel@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 21:25 collapse

He edited that book, didn’t write it

It’s essentially a compilation of articles, and he wrote or co-wrote about half of them.

Pherenike@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 21:37 collapse

Oh, I see. Sorry.

Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works on 12 Sep 2024 20:47 next collapse

But I love getting my news from far-left conspiracy theorists.

antmzo220@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 23:35 collapse

Yeah, they’re so untrustworthy because MBFC says so …

Analysis / Bias

Headlines and articles use moderately loaded language like this: NFL Freezes Policy Barring Players From Kneeling During Anthem. This particular story is republished from the conspiracy website ZeroHedge. Typically, Mint Press sources their information, but sometimes it is from Mixed factual or conspiracy websites. In general, story selection moderately favors the left, such as this Trump Administration Opens Door for Corporate Attack on Vulnerable Wildlife.

Okay? Neither of those articles are untrustworthy or wrong…

Mint Press News primarily focuses on stories about the middle east, Iran, Syria, and Israel. Most stories are negative when covering Israel, such as this CHRIS HEDGES: ISRAEL AND THE RISE OF JEWISH FASCISM.

Almost like Israel is a genocidal apartheid state and most coverage of them should be negative, that’s not bias. It just shows MBFCs bias…

Politically, Mint Press News aligns with the far-left and frequently reports negatively on establishment Democrats like this WHO IS BIDEN WORKING FOR? ON ISRAEL VISIT, “ZIONIST” BIDEN WHITEWASHES ISRAEL’S CRIMES and conservative such as this EMBOLDENED BY TRUMP AND NETANYAHU, JEWISH SETTLER TERRORISM IS SPIKING. Finally, according to the Rutgers University Network Contagion Research Institute, Mint Press “promotes anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.”

Almost like Israel is a genocidal apartheid state and most coverage of them and “establishment Democrats” and “conservative” who defend/support them will be “biased” against them, unless you agree with said genocidal apartheid…

On to

Failed Fact Checks

Millions of Muslims protested against the Islamic State in November 2016, but a “media blackout” prevented people from hearing about the event. – Mostly False

Let’s see how “false” this is and how ruined their credibility should be because of it…

Although the original article was published under a misleading clickbait title, it was at least based on a real event: millions of Shia Muslims did embark on a pilgrimage in November 2016 to visit the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq. This pilgrimate is an annual undertaking for Arbaeen, which marks the end of forty days of mourning of the martyrdom of Hussein:

The pilgrimage was reported (as it is every year) by multiple mainstream news outlets. While it is a religious event and not specifically a political one, some news outlets reported that the annual pilgrimage has taken on a defiant tone as attacks from the Islamic State have plagued the area

So it was millions of people gathering in a defiant tone against the Islamic state…it’s just false because “some news outlets” reported it as such so there was no “media blackout”…

No single source or site is perfect. MBFC is just as biased and shouldn’t be used to dismiss an entire source of information because they say they are biased.

NOTE: This is less a defense of mintpres news (they do get a little crazy) and more a statement against the use of MBFC and similar as a crutch.

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 13 Sep 2024 09:43 collapse

This part did sound pretty concerning

Further, they have frequently promoted conspiracy theories and misinformation regarding Covid-19, such as this A DARPA-FUNDED IMPLANTABLE BIOCHIP TO DETECT COVID-19 COULD HIT MARKETS BY 2021. The Covid vaccine does not alter DNA. They have also published conspiracy theories related to 9/11 and Chemtrails. Finally, they frequently rely on Russian government sources like RT News and Sputnik.

Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 12 Sep 2024 19:39 next collapse

Came here expecting to see Nord. Glad I didn’t.

WreckingBANG@lemmy.ml on 12 Sep 2024 20:04 collapse

Why glad? They are also pretty bad. You also should not use them. They had a databreach and kept it a secret.

delirious_owl@discuss.online on 13 Sep 2024 07:27 collapse

This. Why the heck would anyone use Nord VPN?

inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world on 12 Sep 2024 21:55 next collapse

Yeah, I used to use PIA right up to the buyout. Actually had them email me asking why, tried to make assurances that nothing would change, nope I don’t trust Kape. Still don’t.

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 13 Sep 2024 09:30 collapse

I stuck with PIA, mostly since I had no issues (software, connection wise) and it was just very very cheap

BillyBob1337@lemmy.ml on 13 Sep 2024 01:14 next collapse

Also, ProtonVPN has been infiltrated by the WEF.

Thanks to the way back machine we can see that they quietly erased Rosemary Leith’s bio of her affiliations with the WEF.

Now why would they do that?

web.archive.org/web/20240107014943/https:/…/team

stink@lemmygrad.ml on 13 Sep 2024 05:56 next collapse

Switching ty

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 13 Sep 2024 09:39 collapse

“Infiltrated” seems like a clandestine action even though they just selected her to be on the board. It’s not like her having been on WEF council (“Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Internet Security”) was a secret to people who made her a board member since it’s very available info.

Thanks to the way back machine we can see that they quietly erased Rosemary Leith’s bio of her affiliations with the WEF.

Now why would they do that?

I think especially right-wingers have made the WEF into some Jewish conspiracy theory and it has taken a life of its own so might just be bad PR. Tbh that seems like the simplest option. You don’t want to scare away the potential customers.

[deleted] on 13 Sep 2024 03:08 next collapse

.

delirious_owl@discuss.online on 13 Sep 2024 07:26 collapse

Israel is not “The Jews”. The biggest money coming into Israel is coming from Christians. And loads of Jews are anti-zionists

MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml on 13 Sep 2024 13:50 collapse

Users of a vpn tunnel somehow always fail to think of the other end.

AnnaFrankfurter@lemmy.ml on 13 Sep 2024 17:38 collapse

That’s why you should switch to Tor and I2P