If you’re looking for a VPN, chances are you value your security and the privacy of your information. However, even though VPNs are designed to do just that – protect the security of your data – some providers like to walk a knife-edge (or even go to the most undignified lengths) and store (have logged off) some or even all user information.
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What is a VPN without logs?
I’ll start by telling you (very briefly) what data logging is and why it’s so important to many. Once we’ve dealt with this issue, we’ll move straight on to discussing the VPNs themselves and help you find out which VPN is best in this regard – we’ll analyze each of them and take a closer look at their privacy policies to find the best logless VPN service that will provide 100% anonymity.
One of the main motives to use a VPN is that it helps protect your privacy. VPN is to safeguard your online privacy from ISP (ISP) as well as the government and other surveillance agencies. How do you ensure that your VPN isn’t also capturing your personal data and passing it to others? It’s true that a majority of VPNs use this method. It’s therefore essential to choose a VPN that has a no-logs policy and a commitment to not store any data from users.
But, it’s difficult to find a reliable VPN, especially since many providers advertise a zero-logs policy, even though they don’t. This article will walk you through our most trusted anonymous VPNs that do not keep any of your data. Read on to learn all you need to know.
Criteria for VPN providers’ privacy policies
Many VPN providers practice nonsensical statements like “We don’t keep any logs as we respect your privacy, etc…” on their “Privacy Policy” pages. However, this is not enough.
If we have to recommend a VPN service to users, companies must also convince us of the reliability of the service not only by simple statements. For this purpose, we have created a special list of criteria. A reliable VPN service that does not store logs must have the following characteristics. This is how we guarantee ourselves that the VPN provider keeps its word about privacy.
Not cooperating with alliances 5/9/14 eyes
You may think it strange that we have included this question in a category, but many countries share intelligence. These countries are so strict about information that it is simply impossible to avoid their eyes. Initially, the alliance was only between the UK and the US, then it was expanded to 12 countries.
Countries with 5 eyes: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
Countries with 9 eyes: 5 eyes+, Denmark, France, Holland, and Norway
Countries with 14 eyes: 9 eyes+ Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Sweden
All of these countries are required to share information with each other. Our task is to find VPN providers that are based outside the 5/9/14 eyes alliance.
Clear policy regarding logs
No VPN company will openly state that they store their customers’ data. Since the main purpose of a VPN service is privacy, they wouldn’t dare to state this openly. Therefore, you may read false promises and not entirely clear statements on the privacy policy pages.
Since I am well aware of this practice, I have double-checked all the terms and statements of the companies I have reviewed. And that’s why we’re left with only a handful of providers on the list who provide simple and clear privacy terms.
Independent audit
Not exactly a mandatory criterion. However, it is good to know that an independent company audits all the VPN provider’s servers and software.
This way, we can make sure that the company follows a privacy policy and is backed up with a third-party guarantee.
Stable servers and quality software
A VPN provider with a clear no-logging policy must be supported with stable servers and functional applications for the devices. A company can meet all of the above criteria. However, if the servers are not stable or the applications in the devices are not functioning properly, then your VPN service experience will easily turn into a disaster.
When reviewing your privacy policy, I will also look at the VPN provider for server stability and software features. This way, I will make sure we get the best out of our choice of VPN service.
What is “Information Logging” and what is a “VPN Without Logs”?
Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers to the question, how bad is information logging? Some people may say that it doesn’t matter to them and that VPNs can store all their information without any problems.
However, only a few people will give that answer – most people will tell you that data logging is one of the most serious (if not the most serious) problems that VPN service providers can have. This is the answer you’ll get from someone who has some knowledge of how VPNs work.
So, for starters, what is data logging, and what are “VPN without logging” services? Data logging (or information) is the process whereby your VPN service provider keeps track of your sensitive information – in other words, logs and stores it on their systems.
This can include just about everything from the time you connect to your VPN, to the websites you visit, the messages you send and receive, the products or services you buy, and so on.
Now, you should understand how serious this can be – it directly contradicts everything that an anonymous VPN is supposed to provide.
Once your information is logged, the provider can either sell it to third-party advertising agencies so they can set up certain ads for you or, in the worst case, this information can be given to the government.
It’s worth noting that certain logging of information is quite common in the industry and is not considered something strange or dangerous. Even VPN services without logs routinely collect data such as your email address, billing information, error messages and other similar information – it’s not a crime. Sensitive, personal information is what you should treasure most.
And logless VPNs are those VPN services that confidently declare that they won’t log and store logs of your sensitive information. Of course, these claims are then verified by users and if they turn out to be true, then they can safely be called the best “logless VPNs”.
What is a zero-logs VPN?
Is there an utterly no-logs VPN? This is a very controversial question with varied answers. Can a VPN service provider be truly zero-logs if it stores logs for a few minutes before deleting them? Or else, what about keeping data on bandwidth and timestamp and not identifiable information like IP address. Also, do aggregate and anonymized usage data count as logs?
These are some critical questions you should ask yourself when choosing a VPN. Dig deeper into its privacy policy to see whether it is a genuinely no-logs policy. In fact, some providers have undergone independent audits by reputable firms to verify the no-logs policy. For example, ExpressVPN has recently published its audit by renowned cybersecurity firm Cure53.
To sum up
When it comes to online privacy, using a VPN provider with an absolute no-logging policy is very important! However, among the thousands of providers on the market, finding a reliable company is very difficult.
To provide a list of VPN providers with a solid logging policy, we have created criteria that providers must meet to deserve your attention: stay away from 5/9/14 eyes, clear and concise logging policy, independently audited company, stable connection, leak-free applications, and evidence if any…
Fortunately, providers like ExpressVPN, Surfshark, NordVPN, Perfect Privacy and VyprVPN meet our criteria above. You don’t have to worry that your online activities will be exposed. Choose one of the providers above, install the right app, and enjoy absolute privacy.
Just don’t forget! VPN services will not serve us to provide 100% anonymity online. Don’t try to engage in illegal activities.
