By now most Internet users are well aware of the fact that pretty much every step they take on the Internet is logged or monitored.

To prevent their IP-addresses from being visible to the rest of the Internet, millions of people have signed up to a VPN service. Using a VPN allows users to use the Internet anonymously and prevent snooping.

Unfortunately, not all VPN services are as anonymous as they claim.

Following a high-profile case of an individual using an ‘anonymous’ VPN service that turned out to be not so private, TorrentFreak decided to ask a selection of VPN services some tough questions.

  1. Do you keep ANY logs which would allow you to match an IP-address and a time stamp to a user of your service? If so, exactly what information do you hold and for how long?
  2. Under what jurisdictions does your company operate and under what exact circumstances will you share the information you hold with a 3rd party?
  3. What tools are used to monitor and mitigate abuse of your service?
  4. In the event you receive a DMCA takedown notice or European equivalent, how are these handled?
  5. What steps are taken when a valid court order requires your company to identify an active user of your service?
  6. Is BitTorrent and other file-sharing traffic allowed on all servers? If not, why?
  7. Which payment systems do you use and how are these linked to individual user accounts?
  8. What is the most secure VPN connection and encryption algorithm you would recommend to your users?

Read the results of questions to VPN providers about logging policies, their stance towards file-sharing traffic, and what they believe the most secure VPN is.