Which VPN Providers Really Take Privacy Seriously in 2023? * TorrentFreak
Which VPN Providers Really Take Privacy Seriously in 2023? * TorrentFreak
To help you pick the best VPN, we asked dozens of VPNs to detail their logging practices, how they handle torrent users, and more.
There's way too much hype over VPN Providers, but do not forget, you are routing all your traffic through their servers
As a general advice, if a VPN provider keeps logs of your activity, does not allow you to pay with crypto, and generally spends way too much on youtube ads is probably not an ideal choice.
Do not follow any advice/recommendation blindly, do your own research on which one offers the best service for your own needs.
Something that people need to realize: If you want a VPN for PRIVACY, Mullvad (edit: also maybe IVPN) is the only good option on this list. They make it very easy for you to maintain complete anonymity, they don't even WANT your email address, you can use crypto, or you can literally mail them an envelope of cash with a note inside containing your unique ID and they'll load up your account with that value. It's ridiculous how seriously they take this stuff. And if you're really concerned about privacy, you should also be taking extra steps like using a hardened OS and browser, and using disposable virtual machines. But I suspect that most of us here aren't that concerned with actual privacy.
If you want a VPN for PIRACY, any of these options are probably fine as long as they don't block or slow torrent traffic. Just use the fastest one here that you can afford. The only thing you're really doing in this case is blocking your torrent traffic from your ISP. Remember, if you give them a credit card and your email address, then that's not private! It's just for piracy. It's important to look at your priorities and pick a VPN accordingly.
IVPN and Mullvad are probably the only two that give a shit about privacy. Neither require email or credit cards, and accept cash.
Upvote for the mention of IVPN. Only viable alternative to Mullvad.
Nice, didn't know IVPN was as private as Mullvad. I'll edit my comment.
I personally don't care if a vpn requires email as I can create an alias / burner email to use.
I like how IVPN does it, as you have a choice to use a random id or username and password.
It's just for piracy
Does that mean when you're opting for the latter the payment method doesn't matter as much?
In my opinion, no. I live in the US where people don't actually get prosecuted for piracy anymore, so I'm really not that concerned. I just want to stop getting letters from my ISP and having them (temporarily) cut my internet off until I watch their "educational" video. If they step up enforcement here, I might become more paranoid and lean more in the privacy direction.
Well said, thank you. I use VPNs for piracy and when I'm on networks I trust less than my VPN provider. If you want privacy or even hide from the government, then your requirements are much, much higher.
This is why I love mullvad. No signing in with username and password, no account information, just keep track of your account number and sign in with that.
I still highly recommend Mullvad, they are generally an awesome company and havent had many issues with them beyond a few random sites blocking them which is to be expected.
Mullvad used to be the no-brainer choice until they stopped supporting port forwarding. I kinda need it for seeding. ProtonVPN seems like a good idea for now.
I switched to Torguard and have gotten MUCH better speeds than I do with Proton and marginally better speeds than Mullvad. I had issues setting up port forwarding, but it was user error and Torguard customer support is next fucking level so I got that taken care of.
Overall, no complaints so far.
They also accept crypto payments, however there is an email requirement.
I use Mozilla VPN, which I believe is just a rebranded Mullvad
never had any issues!
I'd like to use Mozilla VPN so I can support them financially (big Firefox user) but it's still unavailable in my country. I've given up hope at this stage.
I use it for 2 years unfortunately from July 1 port forwarding will be removed. Had to switch to another vpn.
Yeah, I would still be using mullvad if they hadn't removed port forwarding -- it's too damn bad but I get why they needed it. Switched to Proton but I imagine they'll run into the same issue down the road and will need to find a more permanent solution.
I use it for 2 years unfortunately from July 1 port forwarding will be removed. had to switch to another vpn.
Wasn’t PIA bought out by a company that keeps logs a couple years ago? Interesting it made it on this list.
The list are not recommended VPN Providers, they are anything but private since they are using Google services etc
I've been using PIA for years. I didn't know about that. If I were to switch to a new company, any recommendations?
It was a whole hoopla but to what I know they still don't keep logs. I believe one of the times they were asked to appear in court (and gave nothing) was since the purchase.
I switched from PIA to Mullvad w/ Wireguard a few years ago. I use BTC to pay and you don't need to supply an email or any info. They've been great for me.
Yes they were bought by an Israeli spyware company.
@LukeSky53
Yeah kinda sus 👀I've been using PIA for years for my downloading purposes, as well as having a VPN when I travel. No issues at all and completely reliable. Don't know if I'd trust them to leak state secrets, but not an issue because I don't have any.
I've been using Proton VPN for years without issue. They don't keep any logs.
I switched all my stuff to proton and I am very happy with them.
I use Mullvad. They have you buy time upfront at a fixed price, have lots of payment options, and at one point were subpoenaed and proved to the Swedish government they don't store any user data and therefore have nothing to turn over. They have a nice app too, I like them.
They're disabling port forwarding due to some bad actors... That's why we can't have nice things.
For those who don't know, port forwarding is mainly used for torrent seeders, aka the people who upload files to other people.
That's a shame. I hope it causes more services to be cool with their IP addresses, but it's unfortunate for toerrenting and running local forwarded servers.
I also use mullvad. They're the best I've used and offer tons of servers across the globe
Indeed, apparently there are some American-based VPN companies that piggyback off their servers, so I figured why not use the service directly. Their apps are also full of features, so I really think the €5 a month price is worth it.
The biggest problem of Mullvard, when I tried it, is that I cannot access to any streaming services. While atm with proton I have no problem at all
Apparently the reason for that is because malicious actors were port forwarding using Mullvad. They're now disabling that feature, so it's possible they will be whitelisted again in the future.
You should not trust any provider that says they do not keeps logs unless they have been audited by a reputable 3rd party and then you are putting your trust in that 3rd party. Anyone can say that they do not keep logs so it's absolutely meaningless, there really is no way to know unless you admin the server.
The secret service used a honeypot VPN to successfully take down ShadowCrew almost 20 years ago. They have had the blueprint for 2 decades, so I wouldn't be surprised if half these VPNs secretly cooperate with them over higher profile cases despite their claims.
"Private Internet Access has verified in court multiple times that we keep no logs."
If they've gone to court on multiple occasions and proven they keep no logs, that's pretty compelling evidence that they're telling the truth. I guess you could never be 100% sure though.
Anyone used ProtonVPN before? What's your thought?
Years ago I did it on a Black Friday or Christmas deal. They gave me instructions to test that my IP wasn't leaking and their support was very helpful in confirming. I think they gave me protonmail for free alongside my subscription at the time?
They were pretty fast and I felt user-friendly.
I hadn't used them in years so not sure if any of these still hold true though.
I recently made the switch from Surfshark to Mullvad. No real complaints about the actual VPN service with Surfshark, but the desktop app was constantly advertising their other products and was becoming bloated. Mullvad just does what I want it to do with little fuss.
Pity they removed port forwarding.
So how bad is nord vpn seeing as that is all over YouTube?
@rimorso @equalszero well I would say its okay. I enjoyed using it. Others I’ve used and like would be mullvad and protonvpn.
I use windscribe wich is rated quiet highly on some privacy blogs. Furthermore, their free plan (with discount code) is quite generous. I got 50gb per month for free. I can't verify their no log policy, but at least they weren't involved in a scandal yet, which you can't say about a most VPN services :(
Ive been using IPVanish for years without an issue.
Mullvad Mullvad Mullvad
I use mysterium VPN because it has residential IPs, but remember that all your traffic is going through some random person's network.
I've been using AirVPN for a long time now and can 100% recommend it, they even have port forwarding.
I've used them for well over ten years at this point. Highly recommended from me too.
They used to be one of the more commonly recommended services a few years ago, but they seem to have sort-of slipped off most people's radar. I'm not sure why.
For android Orbot, it's not a VPN, but it has VPN mode.