These VPNs keep your data entirely secure, even from themselves.
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A good VPN provides you with extra security when browsing online, watching Netflix, torrenting, or shopping. We’ve talked extensively about VPNs, giving recommendations on the fastest and cheapest services, but what about the most secure?
What is a VPN?
Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, are security tools that provide protection for your identity and data by creating a private network that hides your real IP address. The best way to visualise a VPN is to think of it like an encrypted tunnel through which all of your online traffic passes through. Nobody can see into the tunnel, and everything inside is protected against online threats like hackers, viruses, and malware.
Should you care about a VPN’s logging policy?
Connecting to the internet by way of a VPN means that your ISP can’t see what you’re doing and neither can the authorities. That only works if your VPN doesn’t keep logs, though. Otherwise, those logs can help trace your online activities.
This is a particular problem if your VPN service is located in one of the 5/9/14-Eyes Alliance countries whereby surveillance agencies are more likely to be legally allowed to access your browsing history. Understandably, this can all be an issue for some privacy conscious users, especially if you’re trying to use a VPN to get around a country’s restrictive censorship laws.
While many VPN clients promise that they don’t keep any logs of your activities, the idea of a “no-logs policy” can mean a number of different things. Some companies can still keep more information than you feel comfortable about providing. A strict no-logs policy is what’s needed most of all if you want your data to be kept away from roving eyes.
Should you use free VPNs?
There are plenty of free versions of popular VPNs out there, plus free trials of VPNs with full access to everything you get with a premium plan. Alternatively, you can pay for a VPN. So which option is best for you and your lifestyle?
You get what you pay for with VPNs. There tends to always be a catch with free versions, and it’s normally in the form of limited data usage. If you’re just an occasional user, these plans will work fine. But if you’re going to be streaming or downloading, this isn’t going to work. Free trials are a little bit different: they come with everything you get in a paid plan, but obviously they don’t tend to last very long. Trials are great for testing out a service before committing, but this isn’t a long-term solution.
Something to consider is that free VPNs don’t require you to input any payment details, which adds another layer of anonymity.
What is the best no-log VPN?
Whatever your reason for staying secure online, it’s important to pick out the right no-logging VPN for you. We’ve lined up your best options, including leading services like ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
These are the best no-log VPNs in 2023.
Based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN is off to a great start when it comes to security and reduced concerns about logs. It isn’t subject to any data retention laws with any out-of-state disclosure orders required to come from the island’s High Court.
Also reassuringly, it keeps a strict no-logs policy whereby there’s only a small amount of session logging, but no connection times or IP addresses are tracked so there’s no way of ExpressVPN putting the information together to see what you’ve been doing.
With ExpressVPN you get AES-256 encryption, which is pretty much the best level of encryption you could hope to see here. There are also features such as split-tunnelling, which allows you to route some traffic through a VPN while the rest of it goes through your regular internet connection, thereby adding an extra level of security. A kill-switch means you never have to worry about the connection dropping either, and if it does, all internet traffic is blocked until you reinstate it.
Server choices are vast with the option of 160 different locations across 94 countries. It’s also possible to connect to Netflix and other streaming services via ExpressVPN with a fairly speedy service guaranteed.
Based in Switzerland, ProtonVPN is off to a great start when it comes to privacy. Switzerland is outside of both US and EU legislation as well as removed from the 5/8/14-Eyes Alliance. ProtonVPN is also owned by the same company as anonymous email provider ProtonMail, so it has the pedigree for keeping things secure.
In the case of ProtonVPN, the only information that’s stored is your login timestamp, which is overwritten every time you make a new login attempt. That’s reassuring news for anyone worried about being traced.
Elsewhere, ProtonVPN is a dependable VPN even if it’s not quite as fast as other names given its fewer number of servers. There’s still room for typical features, such as AES-256 encryption, an automatic kill-switch, and DNS leak protection. There’s also a Tor over VPN feature whereby you can route all your traffic through the Tor anonymity network and also access dark websites.
Based in Panama, NordVPN is free of any data retention laws or issues so there’s no need for it to retain your data. It’s super transparent about its policies too, right down to conducting an independent audit after some unsubstantiated rumours were spread about the service.
While the service collects your email address and payment method, you can use cryptocurrency to remain completely anonymous. NordVPN also never monitors or logs what you’re doing through its service.
As a general VPN, it’s one of the best. There’s AES-256 encryption along with CyberSec protection, which blocks ads and malicious websites for you before you even get near any issues.
It also has a Double VPN feature where you can encrypt your data twice, effectively hiding your data behind two VPN servers rather than the usual one. Sure, it’s not necessary for many users, but it’s a nice bonus option if you wish to be extra careful. Like ExpressVPN, there’s an automatic kill switch too.
NordVPN offers thousands of different servers so you’re sure to find a fast one. There’s support for Netflix and torrenting too so you have plenty of flexibility.
Based in the British Virgin Islands, Surfshark is off to a great start when it comes to avoiding jurisdiction that could be an issue. Surfshark doesn’t need to worry about complying with data retention laws or surveillance and that’s demonstrated by its services.
The only information that Surfshark keeps is email details and basic billing information (for obvious reasons). Other than that, Surfshark has no interest in tracking what you’re doing or being able to report back to any authorities about those habits.
It’s also just a solid VPN. It has CleanWeb, which blocks ads, trackers, and malware before they get near your system, as well as a standard kill-switch and DNS leak protection. A camouflage mode promises to make it impossible for your ISP to see you’re even using a VPN. There’s MultiHop functionality too, which enables you to connect via multiple countries at once to keep even more hidden.
There’s support for Netflix, torrenting, and other streaming services too.
TunnelBear isn’t like other VPN clients. Skipping a professional sterile app, it offers animations of cute bears tunnelling across the world to indicate which server you’ve connected to. It’s one of the simplest VPN clients out there, and it’s also highly secure.
For the free client, you only need to hand over your email address and nothing more. TunnelBear is independently audited so you’re safe in the knowledge that its no-logs policy actually means no logs are kept. You can always use a throwaway email account too if that makes you feel more secure.
Despite its cute exterior, TunnelBear is still pretty smart underneath the surface. It has AES-256 encryption and is reasonably speedy depending on what you’re doing. You can use it effectively for torrenting although expect mixed results when accessing Netflix.
Joseph joined Mashable as the UK Shopping Editor in 2018. He worked for a number of print publications before making the switch to the glittery world of digital media, and now writes about everything from coffee machines to VPNs.
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