IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis: the parent company and its past owners

Ziff Davis, Inc., a digital media and internet group whose Nasdaq ticker reads ZD, is the company behind the VPN. Operations run through an entity calling itself IPVanish, a Ziff Davis company, based in the United States at 360 Park Avenue South in New York. Your subscription payments go to that listed New York company.

Ziff Davis, the New York group behind IPVanish

On its brand pages the group places IPVanish among its security brands and describes the product line as consumer cybersecurity. This goes beyond a VPN: the brand offers a remote Secure Browser, cloud storage with encryption for backup, scanning of malicious links and QR codes, plus white-label and reseller arrangements for businesses. Over 10 million active users is the company's own claim for this brand.

From Highwinds to StackPath to J2 Global

Since its launch, the service has changed hands twice.

Why the 2019 buyer now carries the Ziff Davis name

A second sale never happened. In 2021 J2 Global spun its cloud fax business off as Consensus and adopted the name Ziff Davis, Inc., so the buyer from 2019 simply operates under a new title. The old name still shows up in documents: the privacy policy lists J2 Global Ireland Ltd as the EU representative. An article saying the VPN was sold to J2 Global describes the same parent.

StrongVPN, VIPRE and Livedrive: products with the same parent

Three VPNs under Ziff Davis appear in VPNRadarLab's data, and their scores differ sharply.

Livedrive, the group's cloud backup brand, is not a VPN, yet it enters IPVanish plans: the Advanced tier bundles 1 TB of Livedrive storage with the Secure Browser, so that purchase also stays within the family. Switching from IPVanish to StrongVPN leaves your money with Ziff Davis either way.

Reviews written by sister publications

CNET reviews IPVanish and openly discloses that the VPN and the publication have one parent; PCMag and ZDNet occupy the same position. Their tests are not necessarily wrong, yet a verdict from a sister publication cannot count as an outside opinion, so weigh it against sources with no interest in the brand.

What a US parent means for your data

Under the privacy policy, data may pass between Ziff Davis companies, next to payment and analytics processors. IPVanish told CNET that such sharing involves only VIPRE Antivirus, StrongVPN, Livedrive and SugarSync, and covers crash reports, analytics, feature requests and support conversations, while browsing activity is said to be never logged. Law enforcement receives information only where the law demands it. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework is held through Ziff Davis; APEC CBPR certification and VTI Verified Member status are listed for IPVanish itself. Account data gets anonymised 45 days after an account ends, though payment processors retain payment data for at least 7 years. One factor that holds the privacy sub-score at 5 of 10 is location: like several other VPN providers based in the USA, IPVanish sits in a 5 Eyes country.

IPVanish ownership questions

Who owns Ziff Davis?

Its shareholders. Ziff Davis trades on Nasdaq, so no single person holds it privately.

Is IPVanish an American company?

Yes. The operator and the parent alike are US-registered, with offices in New York.

Are IPVanish and StrongVPN run by one company?

Two separate legal entities, one parent: Ziff Davis.

Does StackPath still own IPVanish?

No. It sold IPVanish to J2 Global in 2019, and that company renamed itself Ziff Davis in 2021.

What to remember about the owner

Ziff Davis runs IPVanish from New York after the service launched under Highwinds in 2012 and passed through StackPath and J2 Global. StrongVPN, VIPRE Encrypt.team and Livedrive sit under the same parent, as do CNET and PCMag, which publish reviews of the VPN itself. Group-level data sharing is permitted by the privacy policy, with law enforcement access only when legally required.