SaferVPN is a VPN service owned and managed by Safer Social Ltd, an Israeli-based company. The VPN service protects user data from all types of security risks including Wi-Fi hacking using end-to-end connection encryption. The VPN service promises to deliver the simplest and fastest VPN experience but is SaferVPN safe?
Let’s look at some of its key features to determine if the VPN is indeed as safe as it claims.
Table of Contents
SaferVPN Protocols and Encryption
SaferVPN supports some of the best VPN protocols including OpenVPN, IKEv2, PPTP, and L2TP/IPsec. All these protocols work on major platforms including DD-WRT routers with the exception of IKEv2 on Linux. OpenVPN is still the recommended option for both speed and security. SaferVPN secures data using AES 256-bit encryption, which is a military-grade encryption level used by government agencies and the military.
Kill Switch
SaferVPN clearly states in the “uptime” section of their terms of service page that their service may be unavailable at one time or another due to factors beyond their control.
So, what happens when the VPN suddenly goes down? Your IP address may be exposed to prying eyes when the VPN goes down leaving you connected via your real IP.
Fortunately, SaferVPN has a kill switch feature that immediately cuts off your Internet connection when you lose the VPN connection. This ensures that you are not left without protection when the VPN goes down.
DNS Leak Protection
There are times, due to a wide range of reasons, when activities from your device do not go through the required VPN tunnel. Traffic that leaks through the VPN tunnel will easily be exposed to any person or entity currently monitoring your online activities.
These leaks are often in the form of WebRTC and DNS leaks. SaferVPN provides DNS leak protection on all its servers. In our tests, we never experienced any form of IP or DNS leak on the servers that we tested.
SaferVPN Logging Policy
The VPN provider clearly states in its privacy policy statement that they never log or monitor your VPN traffic including your browsing activity, data, and IP address.
They do not monitor and record the websites you visit or any data that you download, view, or share. This means that if any government, for any reason, brought warrants demanding users’ data, they would have nothing to reveal because the data doesn’t exist.
SaferVPN Jurisdiction
SaferVPN is based in Israel, a country known for strict data protection laws that prohibit the government from spying on personal information. Israel is not a member of the 5-Eyes or 14-Eyes Surveillance Alliance but the country’s espionage agency, Mossad, is a key ally of the United States NSA.
Both the US and Israel are known for sharing intelligence data and close collaboration in mass surveillance operations. The country has strong data protection laws but we’d still not consider it as the safest location for a VPN service.
Best Alternatives
If you would like to explore other alternative VPNs, we highly recommend the following:
- Provider
- User Rating
- Our Review
- Price
PureVPN- 4807 Votes
- $3.24 / month
ExpressVPN- 3795 Votes
- $6.67 / month
Conclusion
SaferVPN is one of the safest VPNs to use with excellent encryption, a good number of servers in different locations, and good logging policy. However, its location in Israel presents some concerns about safety due to the close collaboration between Israel and the US. Because of this, we suggest you check out some other more secure VPN options.