What are VPN logs?
VPN providers can keep logs of their users’ activity to improve user experience and maintain system functionality at high-efficiency levels. This can be done in several ways, involving record keeping over several types of metrics:
Timestamp Logs: these logs record the time and date of user connections and disconnections, proving that the user concerned was connected to the internet between the recorded times.
Usage Logs: in this case, the VPN provider could record the URLs (uniform resource locators) of any websites visited, applications accessed, and perhaps any downloaded files. This data can assist a VPN provider in analyzing network user patterns and identifying any potential abuse of user policies.
Connection Logs: such records can contain information such as the time of connection, the duration of the session, and any IP addresses assigned to the user throughout the time they are connected.
IP Address Logs: VPN providers can keep records of IP addresses assigned to customers. These can include both virtual IP addresses, which can be chosen by users or randomly assigned by the service provider, also real IP addresses, which were assigned by the user’s normal ISP.
Furthermore, some VPNs may log DNS queries made by users, which could indicate any websites that have been visited, even if the content viewed by the user is encrypted.
Bandwidth Logs: These logs can track the amount of data used by a customer during a VPN session. This data can be useful for monitoring network performance and ensuring fair usage policies.
What does VPN ‘no logs’ mean?
Not all VPN providers keep logs. Some providers simply don’t collect or store any user activity data, but this means that they can’t draw upon these metrics to improve the service for its users.
Other VPN providers (like UrbanVPN) keep logs for statistical analysis, but once the data has been used, it’s periodically deleted. This offers the best of both worlds for users, as the service they receive is constantly kept optimum from data analytics without the possibility of archived logs falling into the wrong hands.
Keeping logs helps improve network performance, enforces terms and conditions, and monitors common technical problems.
Can you tell if someone is using a VPN?
Yes, there are some tell-tale signs that a person’s internet connection is via a VPN network. Indeed, some streaming platforms with geo-restricted content employ AI bots to monitor connections and cut off those they consider to be VPN-based. Here are a few strategies that can be used to assess connections coming via a VPN network:
WebRTC Leak: WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a protocol employed during peer-to-peer communication in web browsers. Sometimes, such data traffic can ‘leak’ the real IP address of a VPN user even when they are connected via the VPN’s middleman encrypted server.
Reverse DNS Lookup: Some VPN IP addresses carry reverse DNS records linked to the VPN provider, making it a dead giveaway to identify them. In this case, the user might as well have a message at the top of every email they send declaring: I’m connected via VPN!
VPN address: Some online platforms, such as streaming services, keep a list of known VPN IP addresses to block access from VPN users. This is why it’s so important for a VPN provider to keep a rotating pool of IP addresses that change frequently.
IP Address Geolocation: VPNs often route their data traffic via servers in different countries and continents. If a user’s IP address indicates that they are based in Wisconsin, yet the platform they are accessing knows that they live in the sleepy English town of Winchester, they’re going to smell a rat. Especially when the person concerned appears to be in Wisconsin one minute, then miraculously arrived in Texas 10 minutes later!
Traffic Patterns: Some VPN protocols and encryption methods can leave tell-tale patterns from their network traffic, as unique as fingerprints, which can be used to identify a VPN user in certain circumstances. This is why it’s important for VPNs to alter the algorithms that dictate server switching regularly.
The good news for VPN users is that the choice of a reputable provider reduces the possibility of your internet activity records being seen by any other organization, even your own ISP. VPN logs, when handled carefully but not kept permanently, work in everyone’s interest. So sleep easy and stay safe out there.
