like bro

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"Something went wrong. Try again later" (turn off VPN)

Xitter doesn't support strict tracking protection in Firefox.

Create an account to do this thing you don't need an account for.

Also we have 3 captchas and 7 MFA steps you must complete. Please verify your birthday and social security number.

blank white page after sign in, with password manager pop-up attempting to save a passkey

"Upgrade" to Windows to use this website.

This content is 18+ only and requires an ID/face/genital scan.

"Ask me later"

No, no, and have I mentioned no. Furthermore, fuck you.

Those newsletters you never signed up to, you click "unsubscribe", then the site you get directed to just happens to not function... block domain it is.
This app does not allow rooted device. Click here to see how to unroot.
Cookies: Click to accept all, or drop down where you painstakingly have to uncheck all bullets.
Every gadget needing internet access. Forced firmware updates.
- Manually withdraw cookie consent from our partners... the number of partners, 357
after you did all that: great here is the recipe for banana bread
blank white page after sign in, with password manager pop-up attempting to save a passkey
Haven't seen this one, not surprised. Seems sketchy as fuck.
100€ a month might be exaggerated but still.
- Try scientific journals, when the intended abuse target is publicly funded (universities), they go cray

Might as well require a log-in with a free* account (No monetary payment required, please don't read the part about data sharing in the TOS).

Reminds me of an article I scrolled past about Amazon generously "slashing away the margins" to sell their latest spyware "at cost" this cyber Monday.

"That thing you use for security? Disable it before you come in. Come on, live a little, huh? 😏 Nothing bad's gonna happen. Pinky swear."

I have the same policy with sites that demand I turn off my adblocker

Amusingly I had to disable my vpn to post this

That's how it works for me too...

Yeah. Never you mind where the fuck I'm actually from. You don't need to know. It's funny how badly you want to know though.

Well, some companies are now using location data to jack up prices

So, the problem with VPNs is that the cheap ones / resellers have known IPs.

So if you use them you get lumped in with all the people using them maliciously.

If you run a site with any kind of desirable the content the crawlers and scripters hound you endlessly and eventually if you don't want it to be your full time job you just end up banning the entire IP/ ASN that the malicious traffic is coming from.

It sucks and if anyone has any solutions I'm all ears.

first, the ips of all vpn providers are known, the problem with the cheap/free ones is that they spy on you.
instead of blocking ips use proof of work for those sus ips https://github.com/TecharoHQ/anubis
(it's the anime girl that checks if you are a bot. :3)
it drives the cost of crawling at scale high up while being minor for individual, "legit" requests
all the cool kids are using it
Governments could actually shut down the scammers. They know who and where but they don't act.

And then there's the mysteries like OneDrive, where I cannot upload without VPN. Either it keeps failing or it's slow.

With a graph, here's what it does without and with VPN, and eventually fails without one:

ISP problem. It means they are blocking stuff.
Google drive/photos downloads also fail when I'm on vpn.
I want to switch to self hosting but I'm only just getting to the point where I can think about doing projects like that and I have several priorities ahead of it. So don't come at me for using google lmao.

Joke's on you when their website is wrapped in an app that you have to use.

Happened to me recently with the app I use to buy train tickets.

On iOS I go into App Privacy Report and grab all those domains and put them into Tailscale to route through the correct exit nodes.
Usually it’s just one or two domains like api.example.com, CDNs typically don’t care and I block the other third-party shit via DNS (Blocky).
- Yeah there's always a workaround. It's just annoying.

Stuff like this shows you who is just there to sell your data, and not sell you an experience.

This is sort of amusing because you need to disable your VPN to make an account on WAFRN last I checked.

But then how will you apply for a passport to emigrate* when they start making applications online only and probably require facial scans using your phone?

(*I'm assuming you're already inside those countries that made such laws)

You dont? When my country goes fascist I'm not gonna run, it's my home and I'll fucking defend it.
- Its a brave thing to fight, I admire it, but please don't shame others for leaving. People have the right to choose.
  Sometimes you can save it. Sometimes it's beyond saving.
  My family left China about 15 years ago, to be clear I didn't choose it, I was just a kid, but I mean like... what the fuck was the point in "fighting", nobody was fighting there, zero resistance.
  So, it really depends, how much of a hope there really is, sometimes shit is so fucked there is nothing left to fight for.
  I can't blame people for leaving, even if I may or may not agree with their decisions.

I swear I saw this exact post from the same handle but the profile pic was vegeta.

Sadly, it's food delivery I've had to add exceptions for :(

Justeat and its local variations (liferando, pyszne) work just fine over VPN and can even be paid with gift cards
- Not for me it doesn't. I don't believe it can detect you're using a VPN, I just think it's blocked all the IP addresses used by my provider
Unfortunately, geolocation is a valid thing for that business to want. But can't you install a location spoofer?
- Er... maybe? First I've heard of one. I just assumed it's the IP addresses that are blocked - I can't even load the site even with a home-country VPN connected
You’re ordering food delivery through a VPN? Why?
- I do ALL my Internet activity via a VPN. Why? No particular reason, other than I like privacy
- I’ve done it several times (though I prefer pickup).
  DoorDash isn’t known for being an ethical company so I don’t share my location with them, and I purposely use Apple Pay because like NFC it generates a one-time card number with only enough funds for the transactions.
  Thankfully DoorDash has never denied me service even while ordering from what looks like across the planet to it.

I really want to take this same approach but so many websites and apps that I use for shopping for things like groceries now just cease working unless I either manually force cycle through them, or just temporarily disable them. I really hate it.

On iOS I go into App Privacy Report and grab all those domains and put them into Tailscale to route through the correct exit nodes.
Usually it’s just one or two domains like api.example.com, CDNs typically don’t care and I block the other third-party shit via DNS (Blocky).
- Is there a guide you could point me to on how to do all that? I’ve not used Tailscale or “routed any exit nodes” before.
there's always the old walk into the store
but yeah the convenience of pickup is nice