After seriously using VPNs for several weeks now, I have realised they are an illusion.
Sites like ChatGPT get stuck in an infinite Cloudflare loop verifying your humanity while using a VPN, the second you turn off your VPN, the test completes. I have noticed this on several sites served by Cloudflare.
Other sites like Audible redirect you to your physical country of origin even when using a VPN and on a desktop machine without the aid of GPS.
This means any site is capable of detecting which country you are physically in and whether you’re using a VPN or not, the only question is whether they are incentivised to do so.
For sites like YouTube or X, they don’t currently care so will reflect the country your VPN reports to them in terms of country logo and content language.
For sites like Porn, who actually want your business, they will happily accept your VPN status.
But for sites like ChatGPT or Audible, who generate a better service by knowing where you are, they easily detect your physical location despite a VPN.
Lastly VPNs used by default degrade your general online experience.
Search results are returned in your VPNs exit node location and language, so if your VPN is set to Finland and you’re asking for coffee shops, you’ll get results shown in Finnish for coffee shops in Helsinki.
YouTube will bias recommendations based on your VPNs local language and location
Shopping sites will show products priced in your VPN exits country.
And many sites know you’re using a VPN and will simply refuse to show you anything while you continue to do so.
As an experiment, I set my VPN exit node to the UK, where I’m actually based, and suddenly many UK sites, like the BBC, stopped working because they knew I was using a VPN.
Peer to peer VPNs, like MysteriumDark mitigate this by exiting through users home broadband connections, but this is still easily detected by any service such as Audible who know where you are physically located. N.B. this knowledge is not based on GPS data, as this happens on desktop computers with no GPS.
In conclusion, VPNs only work to bypass restrictions because the service providers are either ambivalent or incentivised to ignore them.