Batu69 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Private Internet Access announced today to all its customers via email that it made the decision to shut down all of the company's Russian servers. The VPN provider, who operates servers in dozens of countries, cites a new Russian law that makes it mandatory for providers to log all Internet traffic for up to a year as the prime reason. Additionally, Private Internet Access mentions that some of the company's servers were seized by Russian authorities recently without "notice or any type of due process". Since logs are not kept by the company on the server it operates, no user information or data has been compromised. Private Internet Access shuts down Russian servers The company made the decision to pull out of Russia completely and cease operations in the country. Quote Upon learning of the above, we immediately discontinued our Russian gateways and will no longer be doing business in the region. Private Internet Access released an update for all desktop clients and mobile applications that rotates all company certificates. All client applications ship with additional security measures on top of that. The company notes that the measures are purely preventative. Private Internet Access customers on the desktop can download the latest client version from the official website. The mobile clients link to the respective application stores operated by Google and Apple respectively. Customers who use manual configurations to connect to Private Internet Access servers -- as opposed to using the software or apps -- may set up AES-256, SHA-256 and RSA-4096 algorithms Quote To make it clear, the privacy and security of our users is our number one priority. For preventative reasons, we are rotating all of our certificates. Furthermore, we’re updating our client applications with improved security measures to mitigate circumstances like this in the future, on top of what is already in place. In addition, our manual configurations now support the strongest new encryption algorithms including AES-256, SHA-256, and RSA-4096. The new desktop client version of Private Internet Access ships with a new feature that the company calls MACE. It is listed as an advanced option in Settings and will block advertisement, trackers and malware automatically when the device is connected to the VPN. Additional information about the new feature is not available at this point in time. It is unclear which list or lists PIA MACE uses to block sites. The feature is disabled by default and needs to be enabled in the settings though. Closing Words The option to connect to a Russian VPN server is gone after the update and it seems unlikely that it is going to return any time soon. Private Internet Access announced that it will evaluate servers in other countries as well. Article source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Togijak Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 1 hour ago, Batu69 said: a new Russian law that makes it mandatory for providers to log all Internet traffic for up to a year as the prime reason I hope that other VPN provider don't do the same nonsense - who cares what Russian government knows and the Russian government don't care if you don't act against this country. The advantage of Russian servers that the Russian government will normally not cooperate with other governments = don't hurt Russian interests and you are safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 35 minutes ago, Togijak said: I hope that other VPN provider don't do the same nonsense - who cares what Russian government knows and the Russian government don't care if you don't act against this country. The advantage of Russian servers that the Russian government will normally not cooperate with other governments = don't hurt Russian interests and you are safe. I look at like this if you don't care if a vpn server logs you can find free ones that logs.so im not paying for one that i know that is keeping logs. if any country logs on a vpn , it defeats the reason for having one . It would not be worth anything too me, i would just use a free one that logged instead. Quote [–]ValdikSS 3 points an hour ago Just is case someone is interested what happen in-depth: Irina Yarovaya proposed a new law, and Putin signed it some days ago. Due to this law all ISPs and cell operators should store not just metadata (session logs, which amount of data has been transferred by which IP) for 3 years straight, but the exact data transferred for 6 months (in the last version of this law, the previous one stated to store data for 3 years also). Not only Internet traffic, but cellphone calls and SMS too. This is colossal amount of data, and all the ISPs and cell operators tell that this new law would increase Internet and mobile plans by 2-4 times, but nobody in Duma hears them, telling them that their numbers have no economical justification. Personally I believe that this new law wouldn't be in effect at least for a year from now on, just because there aren't even enough power plants and datacenters in the European part of Russia to put this amount of servers to store data in. But that's by all means a horrific law. That's so sad. 6-7 years ago Russian internet was free, cheap and of high quality, probably the only thing I was so proud of in my country. That time is gone. PIA done said if the USA was too do something like this they would shut down 1st . I hope all of them remove any servers that the country wants logs and if they are any good they would. If many countries get mandatory data retention laws that will be the end of vpn being needed for privacy.. I will go back too 2010 were i didn't even use one and that's what the governments wants were they can keep tabs on everyone . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Togijak Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 @steven36 If you trust the words "no logfiles" you are a dreamer (sorry) just try to run a server for 6 month without any logfiles and if there is a problem try to figure out the reason without logfiles. The question must be what will be logged and how long thy keep the logfiles or how safe thy are stored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeMasteR Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I hope that other VPN provider don't do the same nonsense - who cares what Russian government knows and the Russian government don't care if you don't act against this country. The advantage of Russian servers that the Russian government will normally not cooperate with other governments = don't hurt Russian interests and you are safe. You realize the gov seized servers without any reason given or previous proceedings, right? How is that even remotely safe and something to be cool with? You wouldn't use condom's fabricated with a hole in it, just because it's only one and small, that's a waste of money and people would stop buying and using them entirely. It's a business decision after all, every single server seized costs money and customers and reputation. Seeing how businesses work, it's a no-brainer. Besides that it looks totally unprofessional, stupid and careless when 5 out of 6 servers simply don't work and then it's not even their fault. At least they guarantee availability and that you get what you paid for, not some botching here and there you are fine with. And as steven36 pointed out, that defeats the whole reason to use one. Just because the gov didn't care in the past, there are already laws in place that make it a lot easier to do so and there will probably be more in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 45 minutes ago, Togijak said: @steven36 If you trust the words "no logfiles" you are a dreamer (sorry) just try to run a server for 6 month without any logfiles and if there is a problem try to figure out the reason without logfiles. The question must be what will be logged and how long thy keep the logfiles or how safe thy are stored. I used VPN that logged before for a week at a time before they destroyed the logs and they said up front they logged and it didn't matter to me because i knew they was logging. But when you buy encryption from a country like the USA were PIA is , they would get sued to death for not keeping there contract . Some VPNs are in countries were you cant take them to court because there laws wont let you and they could run a scam on you and have before and be keeping logs and say they don't.. you need to know a countries laws before you buy anything from them and there is no data retention laws in the USA yet, but if they ever pass such laws they could end up like Russia and China. I been vising Russian sites and Chinese sites for many years and since these new laws many Russian sites have switched URL servers and domains not on Russian soil if they just didnt give up and shutdown . It's not just a a VPN problem its there cracking down on the internet on what there people can download and what sites they can visit. If Russia's own people want use there servers for there sites why would you expect a VPN service to use them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Togijak Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 One point for me is to make the way to get information complicated for my Government. A sample -> If German police wants logfiles from the Russian and tell them I was acting against the german Government I think the Russian will be glad that there is someone how is acting against the German. You are right that it is important to know a countries laws and the political interests. And for me there is no VPN provider you can trust 100% if you are a target of NSA, GCHQ etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 49 minutes ago, Togijak said: One point for me is to make the way to get information complicated for my Government. A sample -> If German police wants logfiles from the Russian and tell them I was acting against the german Government I think the Russian will be glad that there is someone how is acting against the German. You are right that it is important to know a countries laws and the political interests. And for me there is no VPN provider you can trust 100% if you are a target of NSA, GCHQ etc. I don't use a VPN to be anonymous no how i just use it as a extra layer of privacy so my internet provider and others cant see where im from and what i do its none there business and were I'm from there is no laws saying it is . . . i don't really think there's such thing as being 100% anonymous . But just because the FBI , NSA , GCHQ , etc is trying hack you don't mean a vpn gave them you're data . The more layers you use and the stronger encryption the less chance of them penetrating you, i believe this . But the FBI proved there point well in the Apple case , the USA don't need to pass laws too backdoor encryption the NSA are against it because all there secrets are encrypted if they passed such laws then NSA would be weakened by it. Other countries would love to find a weakness in NSA's encryption, they just need laws to give them power to hack you legally is all ! Look at how many people who use all these services that give the law info they need and want thank twice about it. and its in there toss they will. it don't stop people from using them . The masses could care less about there privacy. If you don't do nothing to try to protect you're privacy then you have no privacy from no one. Law enforcement are not the only people in the world who want you're data and many people will buy it.. its made companies very rich. And the reason the law messes with them with Gag orders is because they collect you're data for a profit they don't have too there's nothing making them do it but money . They are part of Prism witch is still a ongoing program today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 1 hour ago, n0_risk! said: You realize the gov seized servers without any reason given or previous proceedings, right? How is that even remotely safe and something to be cool with? You wouldn't use condom's fabricated with a hole in it, just because it's only one and small, that's a waste of money and people would stop buying and using them entirely. It's a business decision after all, every single server seized costs money and customers and reputation. Seeing how businesses work, it's a no-brainer. Besides that it looks totally unprofessional, stupid and careless when 5 out of 6 servers simply don't work and then it's not even their fault. At least they guarantee availability and that you get what you paid for, not some botching here and there you are fine with. And as steven36 pointed out, that defeats the whole reason to use one. Just because the gov didn't care in the past, there are already laws in place that make it a lot easier to do so and there will probably be more in the future. How come someone from Germany, a country highly controlled by NSA and subsequently other related organizations, talks about risks of using a VPN provider that keeps logs and only in one country! if you don't want to do a terrorist attack in Russia then you shouldn't worry about anything. and YES, that's how you keep a country safe from terrorists. don't learn from your French or Turkish neighbors, they don't care apparently if citizens get killed in suicide bombings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I would not trust a VPN provider that admits to keeping logs with my privacy be it one country or 20 countries . If a VPN don't keep logs it would just cost them money to keep them and if there about not keeping logs than they lose there face value if they ever get caught doing it. Here is a example many people bought getflv because it could it download from Hulu for many years and now it cant so it don't have that certain value to many who bought it anymore. . I'm not buying something that i know that logs i can just use VPN Gate and others witch admits too it for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Togijak Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 @steven36 Another argument for a Russian VPN -> If you want to upload a book to Library Genesis from Germany you can't but if you use a VPN with a Swedish / Ukraine IP etc. it works = you just have to know what you are doing and why Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 2 minutes ago, Togijak said: @steven36 Another argument for a Russian VPN -> If you want to upload a book to Library Genesis from Germany you can't but if you use a VPN with a Swedish / Ukraine IP etc. it works = you just have to know what you are doing and why I have no idea were they are storing there database but there website server is not in Russia anymore its in the Netherlands . Flagfox says there database is being stored elsewhere. There a Russian site . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knowledge-Spammer Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 welll that sucks but Russia will fix soon i am sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Steven likes to be lied to lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 You don't know nothing about Steven but what Steven wants you too know ,, Paranoia will destroy you , I could say that about you too , but I don't really know you well enough to pass judgment on you as you seem to do every time you logon here . You try to take a privacy topic and make it political to fit you're own country's beliefs i don't have time for this. Go find someone who cares what you think to troll and you will figure out the numbers who care is very low. on here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Im not surprised of your B.S now so keep going you are not man enough to hear the truth, go find somewhere where people are interested about your idiotic comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 When someone tells me there telling the truth sets off a red flag , there's a old saying were I'm from . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 That's wrong, not everybody lie, at least not all time and there's another useful quote: "hate lies, even in quotes" that's for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 That's not even right I tell my side of the story i can only go by what I know . I don't never try to tell people untrue things on purpose . I try to be honest as I can but when it comes to a lot of things posted on the internet not everything is true .So it's best to take it with a grain of salt . All the internet is mostly a opinion . There is 196 countries in the world all with a different opinion on things. Its the old age topic of I'm right and you're wrong . All I want too do is live and die, i could care less if there right or wrong. Before the age of the internet people were better off because they didn't have to hear outside opinions even . Because people just want to argue there right and the other person is wrong. No wonder most are leaving the forums and most people stay on there messengers in there own little social clicks . Because people want try to force opinion on people . The other forum I belonged to it was not allowed if you talked other people .politics or religion they would punish you and we got along no matter we were from. You was never allowed to debate the poster only the topic . I think i will go over to warez bb today were its not allowed lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeMasteR Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 How come someone from Germany, a country highly controlled by NSA and subsequently other related organizations, talks about risks of using a VPN provider that keeps logs and only in one country! if you don't want to do a terrorist attack in Russia then you shouldn't worry about anything. and YES, that's how you keep a country safe from terrorists. don't learn from your French or Turkish neighbors, they don't care apparently if citizens get killed in suicide bombings [emoji4] What are you babbling? This whole text of yours shows that you are completely ignorant and you have no idea about german people and our history or in this case, about me. I myself was born in the DDR, i could immensely laugh now about your level of ignorance, stop thinking in drawers i suggest. Secondly, there haven't been stored any logs, if you had read OP properly before getting your pant in a twist, you would already know instead of posting nonsense! And lastly, if you wanna pick a fight with someone like you try to in the last few comments of yours, at least be more intelligent and smart with arguments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knowledge-Spammer Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 guys y u all fight about a Russian servers is it not russian people need to be mad ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeMasteR Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Well, no. There is no mentioning of russian users getting locked out of the service, they just no longer offer russian servers/ips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 1 hour ago, n0_risk! said: What are you babbling? This whole text of yours shows that you are completely ignorant and you have no idea about german people and our history or in this case, about me. I myself was born in the DDR, i could immensely laugh now about your level of ignorance, stop thinking in drawers i suggest. Secondly, there haven't been stored any logs, if you had read OP properly before getting your pant in a twist, you would already know instead of posting nonsense! And lastly, if you wanna pick a fight with someone like you try to in the last few comments of yours, at least be more intelligent and smart with arguments. Some take it for granted because there forced to be logged by there own country that have country ran vpn services the only way they can access certain sites is if they buy a VPN. they think all vpns log like there's does and like you say its just foolishness . But you cant tell them no different so its best not argue with them . Were I'm from i don't need a VPN to access any sites so i would not need one if i didn't use it for privacy unless i wanted to stream some video that has region restriction and we have plenty of stuff to watch so i could care less about others programs lol. Only reason were i'm from mostly started using vpn at all was because some isp volunteer to send out warnings from p2p and i hardly ever p2p and my ISP is one of them that don't send out warnings but it still don't mean some p2p troll wont take you to court if they got you're real ip from p2p . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmulc Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 2 hours ago, steven36 said: Robert Evans was a Vorlon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 13 minutes ago, jtmulc said: Robert Evans was a Vorlon? I don't really know who he was but when I was in school back in the 80s when you got sent to the principals office he had a plague on his desk that said this. . Quote A Vorlon is a member of a fictional alien species in the Babylon 5 television series this show didn't even come out tell 1994 long after i read this old saying? Quote Robert Evans (born June 29, 1930) is an American film producer and former studio executive, best known for his work on Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather and Chinatown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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