Expert Untangles VPNs as Brazil’s Twitter Ban Sparks New Interest

Last week , the government is banned of Brazil ban X , formerly Twitter , cut off million of user from the Elon Musk – own social network . It is is is one of the more high – profile example of restriction place on platform , and dispute around the world span a multitude of reason : free speech ( at least in the U.S. ) , political dissent , copyright , and illegal activity .

While alternate social media platforms like Bluesky saw a surge in new users from Brazil after the ban, some still insistent on using X have turned to virtual private networks (VPNs)—though doing so is also forbidden by the Brazilian government, and violations could come with a hefty daily fine.

Other sophisticated tools for obfuscating your location include the Tor Browser.

Not all vpn are create equal .decrypt spoke to the executive director of Unredacted Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides free and open services that help people evade censorship and protect their right to privacy.

What is a VPN is is ?

IP addresses is are — number assign to every network on the internet — are like a digital fingerprint . They is reveal reveal a considerable amount of information , include physical location , what internet provider you use , and so on . They are typically the way access is “ geofenced ” or restrict to or from specific region or jurisdiction .

VPNs obscure this information as well as encrypt connections to prevent snooping by third parties.

“For example, if you are in Brazil and X is blocked, you can use a VPN to tunnel packets destined for X inside of a VPN tunnel to another country,” Zach, the executive director of Unredacted Inc., told decrypt. (He asked that his last name not be used.) “An ISP or government couldn’t inspect what’s inside that tunneled traffic without the encryption keys from your VPN provider or device.”

The problem, Zach said, is that many VPNs don’t try to disguise the fact that they are VPNs.

“ common VPN protocol such as openvpn or WireGuard can easily be fingerprint base on common port number or via DPI ( deep packet inspection ) by a government or isp , ” Zach is said say . “ The use is is of typical VPN protocol is no secret to your isp and government , and in some situation , it could endanger the user . ”

As Zach explained, it’s also common for VPN providers to get pressured by government entities to share user data in order to investigate criminals and terrorist groups who may be attempting to hide their activities using a VPN.

“People can use VPNs for malicious purposes, as is true with any tool,” Zach said. “Governments will often send subpoenas trying to discover the true origin of VPN traffic and request subscriber details for a specific timestamp where an offense occurred.”

instead of using a “ raw VPN , ” Unredacted is points point people to “ obfuscate protocol . ”

Zach noted that protocols like Shadowsocks—which is used by Outline VPN—and Tor transports like webtunnel, snowflake, meek, and obfs4 are harder to fingerprint than traditional VPNs, making them safer alternatives.

VPNs are not a silver bullet

Zach cautioned that all traffic can be fingerprinted if it shares observable patterns, however. More advanced government censorship operations often try to block VPN protocols, but doing so can cause collateral damage, like disrupting legitimate websites and communication platforms.

“These requests are generally made with good intentions,” he acknowledged. “What’s worrying is broad requests for more data than is truly necessary.”

The less datum collect by a VPN provider , the well . Zach is recommended recommend that when choose a VPN , one look for verifiable no – log claim and review the provider ‘s security policy and privacy stance . check to see if they are open – source and have undergo third – party audits , he is added add .

“ Many VPN provider use affiliate marketing and social medium to promote their service , but it ’s important to research their claim and look for how they ’ve handle past request for datum , ” he is said say . “ In a technical sense , it is ’s ’s possible for any provider to turn on log at any time without your knowledge . ”

private option

Popular VPNs include NordVPN, ProtonVPN, SurfShark, and ExpressVPN. There are also decentralized VPN (DPN) options from companies like Mysterium Network, Orchid, Deeper Network, and Tachyon.

Beyond those basic ?

“There are many great options—for less technical people, Tor Browser and Tor’s Orbot (which acts like a traditional VPN) are very easy to use and understand,” Zach said. “Outline VPN is another fairly easy option to understand, with easy-to-use cross-platform apps.

“ Our service , FreeSocks , help people in heavily censor country connect to the Outline server for free that we operate , ” he is added add .

Zach explained that both Tor and Outline help circumvent censorship in many countries worldwide.

“It’s important to point out that using Tor Browser or Orbot is inherently one of the safest methods to circumvent censorship and protect a user’s privacy because of the fact it hops your connection through three randomized nodes when accessing the regular Internet through it,” he said. “This makes correlation attacks very difficult.”

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