Which VPN-service is best to retain your anonymity. The top 20 services
Web Services / / December 24, 2019
Many VPN-services promise a high level of security, but in fact do not provide such protection. Here is a selection of fresh VPN-companies from TorrentFreak, which responded to the 4 basic questions about anonymity.
Providers ask direct questions that were difficult to answer evasively, and in the article are only those answers that have been given directly. Those that responded evasively or not answered at all, are omitted.
Here are 4 key questions, the answers to which you will see below:
- You keep any logs that would allow you or any third party to tie user activity at a particular time for its IP-address? If so, what information you store in the logs?
- Under what jurisdiction your business is located and under what circumstances you share private information of users with law enforcement?
- How you treat DMCA requests?
- With a payment system you are running and how payments are linked to the individual account of your users?
Below is a small list of 20and providers responding to these questions. All data is taken from the words of providers themselves.
Private Internet Access
1. We do not store any VPN-logs of any species. We use common IP-address, not a dynamic or static IP, so that it is impossible to match the user with an external IP. This is one of many decisions that we have applied for a high level of privacy, as compared to other VPN-services.
2. Basically, our company operates in the United States, with gigabit gateways in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Romania. We chose the United States, mainly due to the fact that there is no binding law on data storage. We do not share information with third parties without a valid court order. In addition, since we are using the IP general, you can not save any logs.
3. We correspond to the Law on the Protection of the DMCA, like all world-class companies. We have special technology and a team of experienced lawyers who enable us to comply with the rules without any danger to users.
4. We allow the use of many payment systems such as PayPal, CC, Google, Amazon, Bitcoin, Liberty Reserve, OKPay, and CashU. Further. In addition, we would like to persuade our users to use an anonymous e-mail and payment through Bitcoins, to provide an even higher level of anonymity. We maintain the minimum information about the user, which is required for payment.
Private Internet Access
BTGUARD
1. We never store any logs.
2. We are under Canadian jurisdiction. Based on the fact that we do not store logs, there is no information to disclose it. We are not in contact with any third party. The only exception is when we may come in contact with third parties - a court decision in this regard. But even then, we will have to say that we simply do not have the information. But yet such cases were not.
3. We do not open inbound ports, so it is simply impossible to "dismantle" for us whatever was content.
4. Now we only use Paypal and Bitcoin. In the near future we plan to make alternative payment methods such as credit cards.
BTGUARD
TorGuard
1. TorGuard does not store IP or timestamps on your VPN and proxy servers, even for a second. It is impossible to compare what is not. Because some people use VPN for illegal activities, the question arises: how can we maintain a fast network that does not infringe upon the freedom of the draw? Even if our engineer can not track the intruder by IP, how can you stop?
We can apply some rules to the entire server, blocking abuse. For example, if someone decided to use TorGuard for illegal advertising of its business (spam, simply put). To block this person, we simply introduce a new firewall rules to block abuse protocol for all on this VPN-server. Based on the fact that we do not have any user logs, we eliminate the offenders through the server, rather than through individual user.
2. TorGuard recently gone through some corporate changes, and we moved to Nevis, West Indies. Our company adheres to all international regulations and in compliance with the laws of the country in which we find ourselves. We do not share information with third parties about our users, if they do not provide adequate representation in the country, we are under whose jurisdiction. Only in the case of a court order, we will be forced to give a blank hard drive. But there will be nothing but OSes.
3. TorGuard immediately implements the decisions of the DMCA (within 24 hours). Because we can not determine who the users of the server responsible for the violation, we will fully lock the protocol violation, no matter how they may have been - Kazaa, HTTP, Jabber, Citrix, Bittorrent, FTP, Gnucleus, eDonkey2000, and others. This ensures that illegal content will be immediately deleted from our servers, and will not work in our network.
4. We agree to pay for any credit cards and payment systems: Visa, Amex, Mastercard, Discover, PayPal, Google Checkout and Bitcoins. We also agree to pay through anonymous payment via prepaid PIN system.
Our client area of billing and VPN / Proxy-users - they are two different systems. This is done for confidentiality accounts of our users. While the client payment method will be stored in the client area, this information will be kept away from their VPN / Proxy-network. So it is impossible to combine information about customer payments to those who use the server. This can be inconvenient for users because they have to memorize two pairs of login / password, but this is the best way to protect.
TorGuard
Privacy.io
1. We do not store logs on the server. Neither we nor any third party can not resolve the IP to the user name.
2. Our company is registered in Australia. There are no circumstances that would compel us to provide information about our users. We can not meet the DMCA, because we simply do not have the opportunity to do something with our users. Since we do not have the log, we can not link them to the user for responses. If the law forces us to do it, we will move your business in a country where it is not to act, and if that does not work, we just close before to provide any information.
3. See the answer №2.
4. Currently we agree to accept payment only through PayPal and credit cards, but we are looking for alternative methods of payment. We tried to make so that the PayPal transaction could not be linked to the user, creating unique keys for the transaction to make sure that the payment is received from a specific account, and then destroy the keys.
Privacy.io
VIKINGVPN
1. We do not register any user activity. We do not know what IP-addresses used by our own users. We have a shared IP for our customers to increase the degree of anonymity. In addition, we are creating a false traffic.
2. We are currently working in the United States. The US has no mandatory data storage law, which allows us to record any data at all. If we receive an official request to the authorities about the transfer of information, we will give everything we can, but based on the fact that we do not store anything, and can not pass.
3. We DMCA requests there are some features, due to which they do not apply to us. We do not host any content at all, we simply provide a passageway. In addition, the DMCA requests required to identify a particular person that is not possible with our security model. So, you can not send us a valid request DMCA.
4. We are just beginning, so we just accept payment by credit card. The most immediate goal - to accept payment Bitcoin. In addition, we would like to take a really unusual methods of payment, such as cash.
VikingVPN
TorrentPrivacy
1. We do not keep any logs. Impossible to track user activity through our VPN.
2. Our company is based in the Seychelles. We do not disclose information to third parties and this can only happen in the event of a specific claim against our company.
3. If we receive a DMCA takedown request, our team of lawyers to immediately solve this problem without blocking servers or protocols. We do not store content on servers, users are anonymous, so that this will not have problems. We promise that our customers will not have problems with the DMCA.
4. PayPal and CommerceGate.
TorrentPrivacy
ANONINE
1. We reserve the e-mail and user name, that's all. This means that we do not store and do not have access to any traffic logs. Under the traffic logs, we mean any information that could help link the original IP of the user to one of our IP.
2. It is important to remember that we do not keep logs of traffic and therefore physically impossible to convey something to others. This fact, along with encryption, anonymity is the foundation of our service. This is possible thanks to the fact that we are under the jurisdiction of Sweden, and keep the Swedish legislation.
3. Our policy with respect to the log never created us problems and we never received any official inquiries about traffic logs.
4. We accept payments through Paypal and Payson. From Swedish customers, we also accept payments by SMS and telephone. We do not store the data of these services. However, each service maintains different data on the amount of payment and the data we can use, for example, for a refund or to ensure proper technical support.
ANONINE
IVPN
1. Not. Since we are a private service and member of the EFF, is our top priority - the anonymity of users. We use non-persistent storage of logs. They are stored for 10 minutes, during which it is possible to fix all the problems with the connection. But the data is deleted after this time.
2. Our company is located in Malta, and we obey their laws. In addition, we have a server in the UK, USA, France and the Netherlands. We do not provide information to third parties. If the law would have forced us to disclose the information, we will close the company before we will be obliged to cooperate and change of jurisdiction.
3. We guarantee that our network providers understand what is our business, and we do not place any information. For safety, they inform us of any breach, which includes the data content name and IP-address of the gateway through which it was downloaded. For each request, we answer that simply do not place content.
4. Now we accept Bitcoin payments, Paypal and Payza. No client of the payment data is not saved, except for the automatic subscriptions PayPal. However, after the completion of the subscription, they are removed. We recommend using Bitcoin or pay manually if you want to keep the source of funding in secret.
IVPN
AirVPN
1. We do not keep any logs that can be passed to third parties.
2. We work in Italy. Since we do not store information (even e-mail), we can not disseminate information that could violate the privacy of our users.
3. DMCA requests are simply ignored: no claim is a private organization can not be regarded as proof of anything, and details that are contained in the request for the DMCA and are a p2p, not enough evidence of a violation. Sometimes we just look at the evidence to figure out what methods are used to compile claims. However, until now no one entity has failed to provide any evidence or technical details of why the claim was compiled.
4. We agree on the Bitcoin payments, Liberty Reserve, PayPal and credit cards. Bitcoin and Liberty Reserve are not tied to the accounts: we use coupon codes (even through independent sales representatives), which are used to activate any account. Therefore, the connection between the payment and the account does not exist.
With PayPal, we do not store data, but keeps PayPal as any bank or financial institution. In any case, PayPal only shows that the person has transferred money to use AirVPN, but not shows how the VPN will be used, even if that person is to establish connection to VPN-server.
The same applies to transactions on bank cards. We do not monitor (or want it) the payment process, so that we do not have information stored on bank cards.
Of course, we use Bitcoin (and if you - the paranoid, the Bitcoin fits best) and recommend it.
AirVPN
PrivatVPN
1. We do not keep any logs that would allow us or any third party to associate the IP-address in a specific period of time with our service users. The only data that we store - this e-mail and user name, but you can not link the user activity on the Internet with a specific user of our service. This applies to all our servers, except the US.
Note: We reserve the IP-addresses and time stamps of incoming connections for our US servers. But we do not promise anonymity to the US servers.
2. We operate under the jurisdiction of Sweden. Since we do not store IP-addresses, we have nothing to disclose. Circumstances do not matter, we just have no information about the client IP-addresses and their activity on the Internet. So we do not have the information to law enforcement agencies.
3. It depends on the country in which we receive a request DMCA. For example, we received a request to the UK and Finland, and in response to closed p2p traffic to these countries.
4. No one can associate your payment with the IP-address, which you get from us when join to our service (Paypal, Payson).
PrivatVPN
PRQ
1. No logs are not held and not stored.
2. We are under the jurisdiction of Sweden. We do not provide information because we do not have information.
3. We do not care and are not afraid of the DMCA.
4. We agree to pay through Wiretransfer, Bitcoin and Bankgiro.
PRQ
BOXPN
1. We do not store logs VPN activity. This is our main principle. The entire activity of our customers in complete safety.
2. Our company operates in Turkey. Our network covers many countries: USA, Canada, UK, Panama, Argentina, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Singapore and Australia. We employ more than 200 servers. We are not in contact with third parties or the public services. Even if it comes a court order, we have no information about the activity in the VPN.
3. We have more than 70 servers to the torrent of traffic, are located in countries where the law does not apply to data retention. In addition we have a special agreement with the data centers that preserve our torrent network in working order and to protect customers. So we never get a DMCA complaint. As for the rest of our network (not torrent) traffic, we have firewalls that can automatically remove p2p traffic.
4. We accept payments through Paypal and the use of all types of credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Amex.
boxpn
EARTHVPN
One of the users of the service hit (he was expelled from school for a false warning about a bomb threat) from the fact that the police received logs.
1. We do not store logs VPN users and do not register the activity of users. Neither we nor any third party is not technically able to link the IP-address with your account. (student exception suggests otherwise)
2. Under no circumstances will we give information about users to third parties. We are under the jurisdiction of Northern Cyprus, which is not a law on the preservation of data.
3. We have EarthVPN offshore server on every continent, specially optimized for P2P and torrent traffic. On these servers, the DMCA and its equivalents are not applied. P2P and torrent traffic is blocked for the rest of our servers, so we can not get them to DMCA requests.
4. Now we accept payment via Paypal, Credit Cards, Bitcoins, Alipay, Unionpay and Webmoney. To make sure that the transaction is not tied to the user, we create a unique key for the transaction to make sure that the payment for the account passed. After that we remove the key, so that the payment can not be attributed to a specific IP.
EarthVPN
MULLVAD
1. We do not keep logs. This would make it vulnerable to both us and our customers, so we certainly do not.
2. We are working under Swedish jurisdiction. We do not share data with third parties. First of all, we try not to have the information that it would be possible to transfer. In the end, the government of Sweden is simply no such right to withdraw the information we have about you.
3. In Sweden there is no DMCA equivalent, which would be extended to us.
4. We agree to use Bitcoin, and accept cash payments through PayPal, and credit cards. Our accounts - it's just a number, no personal information, and even without the e-mail. If you pay via PayPal, your account number associated with the payment for all. Who does not like, can pay through Bitcoin.
Mullvad
Faceless. ME
1. We keep the logs in the system, but they are not tied to a specific user. This is to optimize traffic and a faster connection. These logs are stored for 7 days, but they are not of interest. If we have to sue, we can only provide the information.
2. Our company is based in Cyprus. Our servers are located in the Netherlands and the United States, and we are acting under the jurisdiction of these countries. We do not store any information that could be useful to law enforcement authorities. Any discussion on this matter, we are only after a court order.
3. We do not have mechanisms to block users. Also, we do not have information about the person against whom the complaint is directed from users. We only develop a system that will allow to warn users that their activities preparing the complaint.
4. We use Plimus Payment System for all accounts. iPhone / iPad / iPod users can purchase a subscription to an application from the App Store. Payment is made via AppStore system. Members gadgets on Android can purchase a subscription to Google Play - the payment carried out through Google Checkout.
Faceless. ME
BlackVPN
1. On our private servers, we do not report anything that could identify a specific user, and on servers in the United States, Canada, UK, Germany and Singapore, we do not allow post files. We register the internal RFC1918 IP, which is given to the user at a time, and never register it the real IP-address. We also store the user name and e-mail, during connection and disconnection with our service.
2. We operate under the jurisdiction of Hong Kong, because we are going through, that the US and European lawyers can think of something to make life difficult for the proxy and VPN. We fiercely protect the privacy and rights of our users, and we do not disclose any information, except for specific court rulings.
3. On our private server DMCA does not apply (except for the American DMCA to our Swiss server). If we receive a request for the rest of our servers (in the USA, UK, Canada, Germany and Singapore), we will warn users that they are violating our TOS and their account may be closed.
4. Our payment systems: PayPal, Bitcoin and Liberty Reserve. We have an internal system that bound the payment details for the user's account. Most private payment method - Bitcoin.
BlackVPN
IPREDATOR
1. We keep logs of connections to deal with bugs, which are then encrypted and deleted. In connection logs have information that helps to eliminate the PPTP client's problems. We try to keep as little information as possible.
IP-addresses are encrypted and can be decrypted for normal operation, but not the support staff. This helps to circumvent problems with the police, when in case of violation, they are beginning to ask the staff to get information about the abuse. The system we keep only those parts that users have given us during the subscription logs and restricted payments.
2. Sweden.
3. We constantly receive only e-mail, so that we are missing anything that might contain DMCA request. If they want something, it is necessary to send us a letter or fax, or send the police. Most often, we get complaints from existing TPB proxy or TOR servers.
4. PaySafe, BitCoins, PayPal, PaySon, AlertPay
IPREDATOR
BOLEHVPN
1. We do not keep logs. But according to our policy, if noticed some unusual activity on the server (high throughput the ability of a large number of connections), we can temporarily store the logs to identify the offender (DoS or spammer on our server).
When the offender is defined, we will take it, send e-mail with the reason for removal and erase logs of the system.
Enabling logs for troubleshooting malfunctions happens very rarely and may be used for the quality of services. For six years the need has arisen a few times, and even in this case the information is not disclosed, and used exclusively for the removal of the offender. In any case, the magazine turned on for a few hours, and only for a specific server on which the offense has been observed.
2. We - the combined company in Malaysia, which is not subject to any laws of data retention. And because we do not keep logs, we simply have no information disclosure, even if we receive a request for it.
3. Servers located in the United States, as well as being in the category of "streaming" does not have P2P. As to the rest, they are not subject to the DMCA, and we are in a good relationship with their providers. Over the years we have found a provider who can work with us and understand the nature of our business.
In the case of DMCA request, we simply reply that we did not have such content and if the supplier does not agree, we'll just tear him a business relationship and find a new provider. We do not point to the user, because of which the request came the DMCA, because we simply can not do that, because we do not store logs.
4. We accept payments through BitCoin, Liberty Reserve, Paypal and MolPay, as well as direct payments through the bank by the Malaysian people.
For each payment has a special ID, which is associated with the user name and indicates whether the expense is paid, and how it happened. The most anonymous payment method - through BitCoins.
Whatever it was, to subscribe to our service, everyone needs a valid e-mail. Only in the case of a refund (especially credit card), the user will require additional information that is available when you use a credit card.
BolehVPN
NordVPN
1. It does not store any data at all. Service does not use the HDD for storage.
2. We are under the jurisdiction of Panama. We do not provide the information because we do not.
3. The request is ignored, because we do not obey these laws.
4. payment methods - electronic payments, PayPal, 2CHECKOUT. Now we are introducing Bitcoin. The only thing - need a valid e-mail, to become our client.
NordVPN
PROXY.SH
1. No information is recorded and stored. Our services are provided through advanced configuration, which does not leave any information after use. The only information that we store about their users - this e-mail and method of payment.
2. Our company is located in the Seychelles, and we are not in contact with foreign countries, except in cases where we are obliged to law or ethical standards, such as child pornography or violation of rights person. But again - we really can do little. And we will always keep you informed about such interactions.
3. We provide full transparency and confidentiality, in accordance with the laws of the countries where our server. If the law or its application threatens the privacy of our users, we close the server and move it in any other jurisdiction where service providers provide the proper degree of privacy.
4. We take more than 85 types of payments such as Bitcoins, SMS, phone calls, prepaid cards, PayPal, WebMoney, virtual payments, credit cards, bank transfers or external options such as payment by post office. Payments linked to the user's e-mail, while VPN account is created independently of this.
Proxy.sh
HideIPVPN
1. We do not record the IP-addresses of users, only the name. So if your account name is specified Bubu, there is no way to link it to your real name or IP-address. But we must note that we have other ways to check who is violating our policies, and such accounts are immediately closed.
2. We operate under the jurisdiction of the United States, so we are not obliged to keep any data about user activity. We do not share information with third parties without a court order. And because our clients are using IP VPN, it is impossible to link it to a specific person.
3. Because no information is stored on the server, there is nothing that we could remove. We said the data center or to the copyright owner, that we have no control over user traffic and use common IP-addresses, which does not allow track who downloaded all data from the internet via our VPN.
4. Now we accept payment via PayPal, credit and debit cards, PayPro. Like other VPN providers, our payment system, and VPN / proxy / SmartDNS system networks are separated from each other. User authentication can not be tied to any activity on the Internet.
HideIPVPN