What country is best for privacy?

[YLwpLUbcf77U 32]

I know this has been asked before, but search isn't helping.

 

I'm also sorry for the somewhat generic Topic Title.

 

In terms of privacy, would it be best to stick with using AirVPN servers that are in countries where you don't live in and are not a citizen?

 

For example, if I was a US citizen living abroad in Portugal, would it be in my best interests not to use any AirVPN server located in both Portugal and USA?

[bringlavabitback1 9]

None of them are ideal but if I had to chose I would go with Switzerland. Switzerland is stronger on privacy and has good salaries, although I have heard they have a data sharing deal between their intelligence agency and the NSA. Romania would be my second choice, but because salaries in Romania aren't very high, I wouldn't expect very good security pros to be taking care of the data centers, and it would be very easy for the NSA to bribe their way around. All of these server locations are well within the Five Eyes circle, and most of them are active participants in it, except for a few.

[Visentinel 13]

it doesn't matter !!! the beauty is that your provider cant see what you do in the VPN and the traffic at the airvpn exit node cannot be traced to you. your privacy is no less awesome than mine if you are in america on an american airvpn node as me been in australia on an american airvpn node

[anonym 22]

Hello,

 

To be clear: Air does not keep logs, and is intended to further your privacy.

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The following is a general discussion about choosing a country when using a VPN.

 

When considering jurisdictions, here are some things to consider. (In this case, jurisdiction=country.)

1. What do you plan to do within the jurisdiction, and is it legal there? For example, if you're torrenting, use a country that makes sharing content legal (Spain, Switzerland; unfortunately not the Netherlands anymore).

2. Do you have any ties to the jurisdiction? If you live in a country, plan to relocate there one day, or hold assets there, and are violating their laws, you could be arrested, prohibited from living there, or your assets could be seized.

3. Will international communication be subject to additional surveillance (perhaps by TLAs) if your data crosses national borders (Sweden and United States to name a couple; certainly there are more)? Then, you may not want to use a server that is located outside your country to access sites which are hosted in your country. On the other hand, you may wish to use international servers when connecting with sites which are hosted outside your country.

 

In general, since we don't know the surveillance capabilities of any individual who might be surveilling you, it's best to use a server based in another country so information can't be so easily court-ordered (ISP or MITM, etc.) In this case, be sure to find out about any data-sharing agreements between countries. Note that in some countries, accessing foreign content is illegal.

 

Links:

Perpetual traveler (five flags theory) This explains the above.

Countries that allow file sharing

Sweden FRA Law passed

Countries with no copyright law

Antigua and PirateBay

The US can monitor (and record, that's what the Utah Data Center is for) communications between US persons and those believed to be outside the US (link and link). Presumably they're also doing it to US persons.

[YLwpLUbcf77U 32]

Great reply anonym!  Thank you!