ExpressVPN is definitely a cut above the majority of VPN providers. The service is well-packed with security features and it boasts one of the best speeds around. However, every bean has its black and we have witnessed how supposedly trustworthy services didn’t stand up to scrutiny. So, is ExpressVPN as secure as it wants us to think? I got acquainted with the service a little bit closer to answer one simple question:” Does ExpressVPN keep logs?” Here are some interesting facts about the provider.
ExpressVPN Jurisdiction
ExpressVPN operates according to the British Virgin Island’s legislation. Such an exotic place to register a VPN company can be easily explained: the country has no laws on data retention and it doesn’t cooperate with any intelligence alliance. It means that users’ activities won’t be monitored by the government or foreign agencies while NSA, FBI or other law enforcement entities won’t have any legal power on the territory of the British Virgin Island. The only way ExpressVPN can be compelled to provide information to authorities is through a court’s warrant. However, there is nothing to worry about if the provider stores no data about its users.
How Good is ExpressVPN’s Logging Policy?
ExpressVPN boasts its zero-logging policy throughout their site. However, I’ve encountered dozens of providers that proclaimed the same while not proving what is said with action. For this reason, I examined their terms of service in more detail. This is what I discovered: ExpressVPN doesn’t retain traffic logs (naturally) but it keeps some connection records. In particular, the service registers what kind of app you utilized, a day you connected, session duration, an amount of bandwidth used, and a server location.
That said, ExpressVPN doesn’t know sites you visit, files you upload or download, details of your communications, specific time of your connection (it records only date), and your original IP address.
The data ExpressVPN collects is used to help tech support provide better assistance, fix network issues when they occur, as well as for troubleshooting.
Additionally, the service may gather some data about the speed of data transfer, crash reports, and connection failures. This statistics is completely anonymous and it can’t bring ExpressVPN (or anyone who is interested) to a specific user. If you don’t want to share this information with the provider, you can opt out of reports in the app settings.
If you still don’t trust the provider here is the food for thought. In 2016, the ambassador of Russia Federation was killed in Turkey. A person or people involved in the assassinations used ExpressVPN to keep their correspondence private. The police were able to detect a server malefactor(s) connected to and seize it. However, they didn’t find any data that could lead to the assassination organizers. Thus, Turkish police confirmed that ExpressVPN does not no logs.
If you are interested in ExpressVPN and its services here is a useful review about its features and pricing.
Does ExpressVPN Keep Logs: Conclusion
The ExpressVPN logging policy is not ideal but it doesn’t compromise clients’ privacy in any way. The minimum data they retain is used for troubleshooting and it helps resolve the network issues. Any other sensitive information is not known for the service. A zero-logging policy is not just a mere assertion; one of the ExpressVPN’s servers was examined and authorities couldn’t find any user data.