Privacy

2941 readers

210 users here now

Icon base by Lorc under CC BY 3.0 with modifications to add a gradient

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Ategon@programming.dev

danielintempesta@programming.dev

155

Wisconsin VPN bill is 'going to be a disaster for everyone,' says online privacy nonprofit (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 1 week ago by cm0002@toast.ooo to c/privacy@programming.dev

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Due to the UK's Online Safety Act implemented earlier this year, accessing my Bluesky DM's now means I need to allow a third-party service to scan my face, ID, or bank card. Understandably, that gives me the willies. So I can either simply never look at my messages again, whip out the likeness of Norman Reedus, OR I can log on via a VPN. However, the days of this vastly preferable third option may be numbered.

US states Wisconsin and Michigan have already proposed VPN crackdown bills aiming to close off this workaround—and the UK may be looking to follow suit. Online privacy nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently criticised this strategy, taking aim at Wisconsin's bill in particular, saying that blocking the use of VPNs is "going to be a disaster for everyone."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago

The way I understand it, any company wanting to do business in the state would have to block access to their services from (anonymous?) VPN providers. That means IP blocks for PIA, mollivard, etc will be blacklisted by companies. There are already blocklists of IPs for VPN providers that many corporate web filters use (yes, they are terrible and inaccurate).

Yes, you would probably be able to fire up a VPS from a no-name provider and get through. However,

a) that option isn't really available to 99% of the tech-illiterate public,
b) a lot of sites already have issues with non-residential IP blocks, especially AWS, and
c) that usually means there is a 1:1 mapping between your IP address and your identity (often a credit card). Which is what they want.