Hi, I searched and couldn’t find any comments here RE “google fiber.” It is coming to my area eventually and I wanted to get opinions from the community RE privacy implications at hand. I view all ISPs as being comparable: they will track what they can, sell what data they can, give info to agencies when asked. Is Google Fiber any worse?
Should be slightly worse but if that is the only ISP around, you dont really have a choice.
The Starlink option is also available but I do not know how viable it is for you, pricing wise.
You should definitely use a VPN if going with Google Fiber. But first, do check if VPN usage isn’t against terms of use or something. It shouldn’t be against the rules but who knows.
I think of this more or less the same way that you do. I consider major ISPs and ISP provided hardware to be privacy-hostile and untrusted. Google might be worse than Comcast, or AT&T or Starlink, or it might be the same or better. At the end of the day I wouldn’t trust any of them to respect my privacy.
My preference is the same as @HauntSanctuary use an always-on VPN, (or if not that at least enable HTTPS-only mode + Encrypted DNS) and use your own router/firewall in place of or in addition to whatever Google gives you.
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What is the benefit of using a VPN, or do you mean only to hide traffic from your ISP? VPNs alone don’t provide much in the way of privacy.
From a privacy standpoint I don’t see anything worse than any other ISP. They’re all bad actors.
From a security and service reliability perspective, Google Fiber will probably be better than most alternatives.
Yes, that’s pretty much it. If you’re worried about privacy from your ISP, a VPN is the main way to provide it. The trust then shifts to the VPN provider, so you need to make sure whoever you’re using you trust more than google.
Thank you for the replies, much appreciated.
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They provide a significant amount of privacy if used for the right reasons in the right context, with realistic expectations, and they provide little to no benefit if used for the wrong reasons with unrealistic expectations.
But that broader topic is mostly off-topic in this thread. In the context of this thread, the recommendation I made was in the context of an untrusted ISP. Which is a rather textbook examples of where a VPN does have value.
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Off-topic
Agreed. However VPN providers like these should be avoided, and of course the Chinese-owned VPNs as well.
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