Does Proton VPN keep logs?
In order to respect our users’ privacy, Proton VPN enforces a strict no-logs policy. This means we keep no session usage logs of what you do online, and we do not log metadata that can compromise your privacy.
- We don’t log which websites you visit
- We don’t log your traffic or the content of any communications
- We don’t log your IP address
- We don’t log your session lengths
- We don’t log or track any location-based information
This level of privacy is possible in part because we are based in Switzerland, which has some of the strongest data protection and digital privacy laws in the world. Data required for maintenance and troubleshooting purposes is secured using full-disk encryption(neues Fenster) on all our bare-metal servers(neues Fenster), over which we have full control.
Full details about the information that we do store (such as account information) are available in our Privacy Policy(neues Fenster). Our apps are all fully open source and independently audited(neues Fenster) so that you can be sure they are trustworthy, and we aim for transparency(neues Fenster) in everything we do.
Proton VPN’s Swiss jurisdiction also confers additional benefits which are favorable for VPN services. In most countries, VPNs can be forced to log as the result of government orders, even if they are by default no-logs. However, within the current Swiss legal framework, Proton VPN also does not have forced logging obligations.
This notably differs from Swiss regulations for other online services such as email which is generally not no-logs and can require IP disclosure in the event of a Swiss criminal investigation. That’s why if your threat model requires hiding your IP from Swiss authorities when using Proton Mail, we recommend using a VPN or Tor.
Proton VPN’s strict no-logs policy was tested in a legal case in 2019 where we were ordered to turn over logs to help identify a user and we were unable to comply because such logs did not exist. Our no-logs policy has also been verified by external independent experts(neues Fenster).