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Basic privacy question
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mindwaves
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Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Irvine, CA
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Jul 1, 2020, 07:46 PM
 
Assume that I am inside a hotel or an office or a cafe using the business' wifi network on my MacBook and assume that the network uses a simple password.

Can the business see what applications are sending data and what webpages I am viewing?

Now, also assume that I am using Opera with its built-in VPN or even a separate non-built-in VPN, can the business see what applications are sending data and what webpages I am viewing?

Now assume that I am using a portable VPN router such as Invizbox Go (https://www.invizbox.com/products/invizbox-go/), does the same apply?

I am not concerned about what others can see, just asking if the business itself can see what data is being sent/received.
     
reader50
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Join Date: Jun 2000
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Jul 2, 2020, 12:57 AM
 
-- if you're not using a VPN
When visiting a non-encrypted site or service, they can theoretically see everything. If they bought the hardware & software to do so.
When visiting via HTTPS (or other encrypted service) they can see what site you visit. But not what you do there, or what page(s) you read.

-- if you use a VPN
All they see is a lot of encrypted traffic from you to the VPN service's IP address.
However, if your DNS is not encrypted, they can guess the sites you visit based on you resolving those domains via DNS. Most VPN services solve this by supplying their own DNS server for you to use, through the VPN.

-- if you use a VPN + encrypted DNS
All they see is a lot of encrypted traffic. Mostly from you to the VPN server. A lesser amount from you to the encrypted DNS service (if your DNS queries are not routed through the VPN).

I'm not familiar with Opera's VPN, or Invizbox. Same rules should apply - you'd just have to check the details on those two services.

------
Addendum: a standalone VPN router of your own could download the entire DNS table for caching. Then you'd get your DNS queries from your router cache. That way, they couldn't tell where you were going based on DNS queries, even with unencrypted DNS connections.

Kind of like a spy agency monitoring what books you check out of the library. So whenever you want to read a book, you check out every book in the library. The spooks can't tell which one you were interested in. Also, you now have an excuse for your significant other. Why you absolutely need to buy a bigger truck.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Join Date: Mar 2004
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Jul 2, 2020, 04:20 AM
 
Encrypted BIND traffic seems like it should be a no brainer. I wonder what I'm missing there.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
   
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