Obscura is still relatively new to the market, so it would be wise to wait for another two to three years before recommending it. To observe how it is evolving and if it actually becomes a sustainable business. I wouldn’t want a repeat of the Skiff situation.
I just found about them throug the Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons podcast. They were a guest on the latest episode. This looks very promising. I do find it weird that they don’t accept Monero or cash, but I guess that will come later. I don’t know how well it works, but IMHO, every VPN who is truly committed to privacy should follow suite. Proton and Mullvad should copy this formula.
The cash thing isn’t weird. Accepting cash means a techbro/sis has to understand humans, hire a human who won’t steal cash, cameras on the cash counting human, a physical location that is secure but allows humans to enter and exit on the regular, dealing with banks that treat you like a drug dealer or prostitute because you’re touching icky cash and the cash you’re moving isn’t enough for an armored truck.
This should absolutely not be recommend for now. The service has a long way to go to do all the right things and improve their services and have it be properly available on all operating systems before we even begin to evaluate it for recommendation.
This is a brand new VPN and while it’s starting to do the right things, it has ways to go to earn everyone’s trust and attention.
There a big Obscura VPN thread on this forum. I recommend reading that. It’s long but detailed and informative.
I hear you, but a good deal of privacy focused companies sell gift cards through the Proxy store, which accepts Monero, cash, and bank transfers. Obscura could do the same. The Proxy Store already has an operation running, so it’s less work for Obscura.
Yeah we’re looking into Monero right now. Cash is quite a logistical headache for us at this point in time though since it’s just me, myself, and I working on non-engineering things… Hopefully we grow fast to a point where we can handle this!
It’s why we get up out of bed every morning
For those following along, I think they mean this thread.
Haven’t heard of this one, could you link me to it?
My bad! Yes, you are right, it was the Opt-Out Podcast! I listen to so many privacy podcasts that I got my wires crossed.
Absolutely! Here’s the link!The Proxy Store is an online store that sells gift card from many privacy services including Simple Login, Tuta, Mullvad VPN, Addy, and others. I believe they have official partnership with those stores. I have used multiple times for various services by paying cash.
They accept Monero, bank transfers, and cash in up to 20 currencies.
My hope is that more and more privacy services will allow gift cards and allowing selling them on the Proxy Store, so users can pay anonymously. My biggest wish is for Proton to be available there.
Simple Login gift cards were already available in the Proxy Store before Proton bought them, and that continues to be the case, so there’s no reason the rest of Proton’s services can be purchased there either. Lastly, in an ideal world, the Proxy Store would have multiple locations in the world. One on each continent.