Another virtual private network provider has just taken an important step to increase its customer transparency. Surfshark — CNET’s Editors’ Choice for Best Value VPN and one of our top VPN picks — passed an independent no-logs audit conducted by accounting firm Deloitte, the VPN company said in a blog post on Wednesday.
“The positive outcome of Deloitte’s No Logs Assurance report is factual proof to our users and future customers that Surfshark operates to the highest standards of privacy and quality,” wrote Justas Pukys, Surfshark VPN product owner. “We will continue to conduct various audits and tests to obtain independent verification of our security and privacy practices.”
The audit examined the configuration and management of Surfshark’s IT systems and supporting IT operations and was conducted between November 21 and December 2, 2022 according to a summary of the audit report by Deloitte (PDF). As part of the audit, Deloitte examined the design and configuration of Surfshark’s standard VPN servers, static IP VPN servers, multihop servers, and multiport servers.
“Based on the procedures performed and the evidence received, in our opinion the configuration of the IT systems and the management of the supporting IT operations is properly prepared in all material aspects, in accordance with [Surfshark’s no-logs policy]”, said Deloitte.
Deloitte validation is important because independent testing is one of the only ways to confirm that a VPN provider’s no-logs claims are legitimate. Even though an independent audit from a company like Deloitte can only confirm its findings for the scope and length of the audit, it can give customers a degree of confidence that the VPN they are using really delivers what it promises.
“[The] no-logs policy is one of the most important features of our services,” says Surfshark in its Terms of Service. “This means that your activities are in no way logged, stored or transmitted to third parties when you connect to our services. We do not collect any information about what you do online (your visited IP addresses, browsing history, session information, bandwidth used, connection timestamps, network traffic or other similar data).”
Surfshark’s announcement comes two weeks after sister company NordVPN announced its own independent no-logs audit, also conducted by Deloitte. Surfshark had its browser extensions independently audited in 2018 and its server infrastructure in 2021, but the Deloitte audit is Surfshark’s first independent no-logs audit.
For more information on VPNs, check out Surfshark’s new dynamic MultiHop feature and how to boost your VPN speeds.
Does Surfshark save your data?
Does Surfshark keep logs? In short, Surfshark VPN does not track your online whereabouts or actions in any way. The VPN server only stores enough data to maintain your VPN connection and nothing is stored after you are done.
Does Surfshark hide data from the ISP? There are ways to hide the fact that you are using a VPN from your ISP by using obfuscated servers. Many VPNs (like Surfshark) have this feature. This makes your internet traffic appear like any other traffic, thus hiding the fact that you are using a VPN from your ISP.
Is Surfshark really private? Yes, Surfshark is safe. In addition to our audits, we offer all the features you need to look for in a secure VPN: we use military-grade encryption, updated logs, and 100% pure RAM servers. We also have a strict no-logs policy. All of these VPN features ensure that your privacy and security are always our first priority.
Can you trust Surfshark? Surfshark is a very good VPN and is among the best VPN services, with AES 256-bit encryption, kill switch, split tunneling, Netflix and torrenting access, and a headquarters outside of the Five Eyes Alliance.
Can a VPN provider see your history?
Can VPN see what you’re doing? no The VPN software encrypts your online connections. This makes it impossible for anyone to see what you are doing. The ISP can detect that you are using a different IP address than they assigned you and find out that you are using a VPN.
Can VPN see my browsing history? A virtual private network (VPN) can hide a user’s internal protocol (IP) address and block their location and browsing history, allowing them to more privately share and receive information on public Internet networks.
Do VPN services keep logs?
Every VPN logs some information, if only for communication and billing purposes. In practice, “no log” usually means that the VPN does not log data about how you use its service, such as: B. Your browser history, time stamp or IP addresses.
Which VPN Keeps No Logs? We voted NordVPN as the best no-log VPN. NordVPN has undergone two independent reviews by PricewatershouseCooper (PwC). Auditors found that NordVPN does NOT collect: Users’ local IP addresses.
Does a VPN provider track my history? While using a VPN service, your ISP can only see encrypted data being transmitted to a server. They can’t see the content of your traffic or where it’s going and where it’s going. Your ISP cannot see what websites you visit when using a VPN, or anything you do online while using a VPN.
How long do VPNs keep connection logs? This information is routinely deleted within 30 days. In addition, the system can store data about the bandwidth transmitted per session. Connection logs can be kept for up to 30 days, but there are no traffic logs and IP addresses are not recorded.
How do I check VPN logs?
View connection logs
- In the navigation pane, select Log Groups, and then select the log group that contains your connection logs.
- Select the log stream for your Client VPN endpoint. The Timestamp column shows the time the connection log was published to CloudWatch Logs, not the time of the connection.
Where can I find VPN logs? In most cases, VPN logs are stored on some sort of management server under the control of the VPN service itself. Most VPN services should not keep logs on the VPN servers.