Many hide the truth in the fine print. You have to weed them out, yes.
- They advertise an "anonymous service" on their website but the fine print in their privacy policy suggests they log a significant amount of customer data.
- They advertise an "anonymous service" on their website, but their privacy policy simply says "we don't log" without further explanation or detail.
Privateinternetaccess (PIA) for example has this in their fine print.
PrivateInternetAccess.com does not collect or log any traffic or use of its Virtual Private Network ("VPN") or Proxy.
Torrentfreak looked into several VPN companies. PIA replied with this (more on webpage)
1. We do not log, period. This includes, but is not limited to, any traffic data, DNS data or meta (session) data. Privacy IS our policy.
2. We choose to operate in the US in order to provide no logging service, as there is no mandatory data retention law in the US. Additionally, our beloved clients are given access to some of the strongest consumer protection laws, and thus, are able to purchase with confidence.
3. We do not monitor our users, period. That said, we have a proprietary system in place to help mitigate abuse.
4. We utilize SendGrid as an external mailing system and encourage users to create an anonymous e-mail when signing up depending on their adversarial risk level. Our support system is in-house as we utilize Kayako.
5. We have a proprietary system in place that allows us to comply in full with DMCA takedown notices without disrupting our users’ privacy. Because we do not log our users’ activities in order to protect and respect their privacy, we are unable to identify particular users that may be infringing the lawful copyrights of others.
6. We do not log and therefore are unable to provide information about any users of our service. We have not, to date, been served with a valid court order that has required us to provide something we do not have.
Basically with a VPN it all comes down to trusting them or not. If you don't, don't use one. After looking at pretty much all of them out there and doing a lot of research, I do.
At least, my trust in them to do what they say they are doing is much greater than my trust in the government. PIA 'may' not be telling the truth and keeping logs, but i KNOW the NSA is. So I'll keep using one.