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Can VPN access your data? Is your VPN safe?

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

VPNsare seen by many as superheroes, as they help maintain a private, secure, and free Internet. What aVPNdoes is create a tunnel and redirects all of your Internet traffic through it.

More so, they encrypt thedatathey pass through that tunnel. That way, your ISP has no chance of getting grab of your traffic, let alone decrypt and analyze it.

However, like your ISP, aVPNis but a middleman. An intermediary, if you want. As long as there’s someone or something between you and the destination server, there will also be a means of observing and collecting yourdata.

Basically what aVPNdoes is ask you not to trust your default intermediary (which is your ISP), but to willingly hand them access to your privatedata, hoping that they will only act as passive observers.

For that reason, users have started to ponder on questions such as whether or notVPNsare truly safe, and if they can access your Internet traffic and/or privatedata.

But before we jump to hasty conclusions, let’s take a step back and run a quick recap.

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VPNs act as middlemen

From a security standpoint, there’s little you can hide from yourVPNprovider. By default (without aVPN), your ISP can see everything you do online, ranging from websites you visit to connection times and what files you’ve downloaded.

They can even go as far as seeing every bit of unencrypteddatathat belongs to you. For instance, if you’re posting something on an HTTP website, they can see it. Passwords, messages, pictures, you name it.

Now, if you use aVPN, you simply replace the middleman. So everything you’ve trusted your ISP not to do will be expected of yourVPN.

Just to be clear, yourVPNcan see the same information that your ISP usually sees. However, how they choose to treat that information is what setsVPNsapart from each other and from ISPs.

The importance of zero-log VPNs

As we’ve mentioned just above, theVPNprovider’s policy is quite important, as it rules on how yourdatagets treated by the service. There are severalVPNservices that swear by theirzero-loggingpolicy, which is a good thing.

Not keeping any logs means that if the provider’s servers get seized, there will be nodataworth analyzing.

This includes connection timestamps,IP addresses, and basically anything that can help someone link you with yourVPNaccount or with specific actions that have been performed in a certain fashion or timeframe.

To put it shortly,if theVPNdoesn’t log anything, there’s nothing to analyze.

MostVPNsdo run some logs, but these are only meant to help optimize the service since thedatathey monitor and/or collect is anonymous and can’t be traced back to you.

For instance,VPNscan log successful or failed connection attempts, the date (and not exact time) you connected to a specific server, and how many users are connected to each of their servers.

Even though these bits of information seem specific, they’re not enough to pun a pin in you.

Is your VPN safe?

The quickest way to learn that is by giving a quick rundown to the provider’s privacy policy and terms of service. We know it’s a lengthy, tedious process, but it will help you learn more about yourVPN‘s trustworthiness.

Another way to determine whether you can trust yourVPNor not is by looking it up online.VPNswho previously sold or handed customerdatanever live it down. You can find tens, if not hundreds of articles and even court cases where they gladly handed incriminating info.

Only use trustworthy VPNs

Private Internet Access is aVPNyou can trust. It’s brought to you by Kape Technologies and not only does it encrypt your traffic to keep it away from prying eyes, but it also keeps no logs regarding your online activities.

Private Internet Access

Thus, whatever website you decide to browse or file you might want to download, PIA will keep it on the hush for you. Just don’t make the mistake of taking PIA as your unlawful sidekick.

Neither PIA nor we condone unlawful activities using aVPN. You should only useVPNto keep your online whereabouts to yourself, but be careful about which side of the law you land on.

Can VPN servers see my data?

With all that in mind, we can safely conclude that yes, yourVPNprovider can absolutely see your onlinedata. All of them, no exception. However, some of them decide not to act on it. Others might harvest it and sell it to the highest bidder.

If you want to avoid nasty situations like your private data falling in the wrong hands, make sure to do your research thoroughly before deciding to stick with aVPNprovider.

There’s plenty of helpful guides online and even discussion forums can make a great starting point for your research.

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Can VPN access your data? Is your VPN safe?#

VPNs act as middlemen#

The importance of zero-log VPNs#

Is your VPN safe?#

Only use trustworthy VPNs#

Private Internet Access#

Can VPN servers see my data?#