I like SpiderOak, it is one of my favorite cloud backup and sync services, and if you are a SpiderOak user you might want to take a look at their latest blog post offering 25% off of VyprVPN.
Before you do that though here are a few things to consider before you go and sign up that you will not read in the SpiderOak blog post. One of the things you are probably looking for in a VPN is a service that helps keep you private. The first step in keeping you private is not keeping logs that would make it easy to identify you and your Internet use. Unfortunately VyprVPN does not have a very good track record regarding logs.
First off let’s take a look at a TorrentFreak post from 2011. I’ll summarize what TorrentFreak says about VyprVPN.
So, does VyprVPN log? You bet.
Now granted that is an old article from 2011, things might have changed since 2011. Unfortunately TorrentFreak did not include VyprVPN on the 2014 version that I could find. If you find it let me know.
Of course the best source of of what is logged should be from VyprVPN themselves. A quick look at their Privacy Policy should give you an idea of what they log and how easy it would be to identify you from what they keep.
What Data Golden Frog Retains From VyprVPN Sessions:
Each time a user connects to VyprVPN, we retain the following data for 30 days: the user’s source IP address, the VyprVPN IP address used by the user, connection start and stop time and total number of bytes used.
Pretty clear that VyprVPN can easily match your IP address with the IP address you use on their service. Now it is not all bad. VyprVPN does clearly state what they do not collect:
What Golden Frog Does Not Collect From VyprVPN Sessions:
- Does not log a user’s traffic or the content of any communications
- Does not perform deep packet inspection of your traffic, except where requested by the customer for firewall purposes.
- Does not perform shallow packet inspection of your traffic, except where requested by the customer for firewall purposes.
- Does not discriminate against devices, protocols, or applications. Golden Frog is network neutral.
- Does not throttle your Internet connection.
- Does not rate limit Internet connection.
It is not hard to understand that if you visit some site that some government agency or copyright czar has their eye on you can bet the VyprVPN IP address will be recorded and the next step for that agency is to get the IP log from VyprVPN to connect the VyprVPN IP address with your IP address.
Does this mean that VyprVPN is a bad VPN service, not at all, but if you are looking for a VPN service to keep you more private they are perhaps not the best option. Finding a service that does not log your your connecting IP address is a good start.
If you are looking for a VPN that does not log your IP address I would suggest taking a look at TunnelBear. They are a Canadian company based in Toronto and their privacy policy clearly states:
TunnelBear does NOT store users originating IP addresses when connected to our service and thus cannot identify users when provided IP addresses of our servers. Additionally, we cannot disclose information about the applications, services or websites our users consume while connected to our Services; as TunnelBear does NOT store this information.
I use TunnelBear mostly for work to check websites from locations around the world but I also use it to secure my Internet connection when I am using wi-fi hotspots. They have apps for Windows, Apple, iOS and Android. My only wish would be to be able to install them on my router so my whole home network could be sent though them. I do recommend them, but if you want to use BitTorrent you need to look elsewhere, last I checked the do not allow BitTorrent traffic. Unfortunately that also includes BitTorrent Sync last time I tried.
I left a comment on the SpiderOak blog post about this, but I can understand if it is not published. SpiderOak offers a fantastic zero-knowledge cloud storage and backup service and if you want to keep your connection private a VPN is a great idea, and an even better idea is a VPN that does not log your IP address. I am a little surprised that SpiderOak would partner with VyprVPN like this since Golden Frog also offer a cloud storage service called Dump Truck which does not look anywhere near as safe as SpiderOak.
What are your thoughts, do you use a VPN to keep your Internet usage more private?
If you would like to know more about SpiderOak and some of its features? Be sure to read our SpiderOak review for more details of the SpiderOak online backup service.
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