You can also host your own, check out radicale! Is quite simple.

Not if going first through a MIMO ofuscator. Which is what the VPN is.

Or could you explain how would you be able to tell which connection goes to which client?

It is about the ability to trace back, not to be traced.

Ws1------|----+++++++±–| Ws2------| | ----Client 1 Ws3------|. VPN |----Client 2 Ws4------| |----Client 3 … | | … Wsn------| |----Client m

Since there are multimple outside conections (wb1…n), the traffic to the VPN clnent is encripted and each client can have multiople connections (thats why i used Client m and not Client n) you can not in a reliable fashion tell which connection will be sent to which client.

Now your case:

Ws1------|----+++++++±–| Ws2------| | ----Client 1 Ws3------|. VPS. | Ws4------| | … | | Wsn------| |

You can in that case reliable say that all the traffic is being piped to Client 1, because ks the only client.

From there a motivated party can trace back you traffic to you ISP, if you got a fixed IP you can be trace back to.

If you are behind a CGNAT that party will need help from your ISP, to see where the fraffic went. Which tbf I neglected to mention before, but still changes the trust from you VPS to you ISP.

To be REALLY fair this tho no wholly easy is also not incredibly hard given you have the right hardware in the right place, I just wanted to explain why mixing your traffic with others has an advantage over a single person VPN

You are missing the point, in this case the vector would not be someone requesting data but someone surveiling the VPS or VPN server’s traffic and drawing conclutions out of it

I’d argue that deanonimation would be easier.

In a VPN you have hundreds of clients and also hundreds of outbound connections, tho not impossible is way harder to find out which connection is being piped to which client. On you own hosted VPS, if you have a dedicated ip is easier, all the traffic will be redirected to only one address, then one of your client.

Even with a vps with a shared ip the number of clients mantaning open connections is probably way lower on average.

I understand what you are saying but I do not think making services inaccsessible for a part of the population will be worst in the long run. As the OP of this threat said, bots are a hugh problem. Even with moderate resources a motivated party can do a lot of harm if allowed to have their bots to have access to the service, misinformation is the danger that readily comes to mind. In that sense is easier and more effective -not better or fair- to restrict the access for some, and catch most of bots.

But at the end of the day is all futile, AI will be able to solve most -if not all of- these puzzles soon enough. The best solution imo is to let the bots in, teach people how to read critally and how to cool down before speaking/posting.

But from a bussiness point of view educating people is not very palatable in most cases.

There are always older peeps in rave, festivals, concerts, discos… no one cares, and to be fair, I don’t think most people in communitiy would take kindly to ageisim. Enjoy!

Lots of good answers here, I just want to add a book recomendation: Atomic habits. It is a practical way of training your “willpower”

Right there with the decades in which the left and center ignored this problem. Damm CDU and its woke agenda.

Yooo. You are onto something here.

I was reading the thread thinking “well, it is a good argument” but kernel level access? no thanks.