Ask HN: Is it possible for a residential proxy provider to exist ethically?
4•walrus01•11h ago
I'm leaning towards "no", because I've not seen a single bulk residential proxy provider that doesn't use some form of trickery to get people to agree to a TOS/AUP that bundles their proxy. Extremely few if any users install a residential proxy allowing unknown 3rd parties to run traffic through their house with full knowledge of what that really means, nor are they compensated for it.
Comments
d3Xt3r•10h ago
Not all of them are shady. Well, at least not shady in the sense of using dark pattern trickery or by malware delivery.
The way the "legit" providers operate is by pitching a "get paid to share your unused bandwidth" spiel. Of course, it's highly unlikely that these users understand the full consequences of running a proxy, so I reckon it's still dodgy, kinda like predatory loans, MLMs and other "legal" schemes desperate folks fall for.
Now in theory there could be an operator that discloses all the risks up front, but I don't imagine they'd have many takers. Unless they pay really well (bearing in mind that "well" is very relative; 50c/GB in a third-world country can be decent money).
d3Xt3r•10h ago
The way the "legit" providers operate is by pitching a "get paid to share your unused bandwidth" spiel. Of course, it's highly unlikely that these users understand the full consequences of running a proxy, so I reckon it's still dodgy, kinda like predatory loans, MLMs and other "legal" schemes desperate folks fall for.
Now in theory there could be an operator that discloses all the risks up front, but I don't imagine they'd have many takers. Unless they pay really well (bearing in mind that "well" is very relative; 50c/GB in a third-world country can be decent money).
See: https://www.proxyrack.com/blog/5-best-data-selling-apps-to-e...