Is IVPN safe? Logging policy, audits and jurisdiction
Privacy and jurisdiction 9.0/10 and security 7.5/10 (segment medians 2.7 and 2.1). No red flag in our data. Independent no-logs audit: ✓ Yes.
In 10 seconds
- Independent no-logs audit: ✓ Yes
- Open-source apps
- Warrant canary
- Kill switch
Privacy
- Jurisdiction
- Gibraltar, outside 5/9/14 Eyes
- Legal entity
- IVPN Limited
- No-logs policy
- Yes
- Data retention
- account data deleted 90 days after termination; vouchers 30 days
- Shared with third parties
- none (No third-parties have access); Braintree/PayPal process payments
- Trackers on the website
- self-hosted Matomo (IP truncated)
What the privacy policy says is collected
Red ✕: collected. Green ✓: not collected. Grey: the policy does not say.
- Email✓ No
- IP at sign-up✓ No
- Connection IP✓ No
- Session times✓ No
- Bandwidth✓ No
- Device info✓ No
- App analytics✓ No
- Crash reports✕ Yes
Security
- Kill switch
- Yes (yes (macOS, Windows, Linux, Android))
- DNS leak protection
- Yes (yes (firewall: DNS/IPv6 leak protection))
- Security audits
- Yes eight audits since 2019
- Open-source apps
- https://github.com/ivpn
- Two-factor sign-in
- Not stated
What is known about the logs
IVPN Limited is registered in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory that is not part of the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances. According to its privacy policy, the service does not log connection IPs, session times, traffic volumes or app analytics. No email is needed at signup: you log in with a generated account number and can pay with cash or Monero. Audits have been carried out annually since 2019, eight in total, with the reports published on the service's blog. IVPN scores 9 out of 10 for privacy, against a segment median of 2.7. You can compare it with others in the list of audited no-logs VPNs.
What the service still keeps
Crash reports in the mobile apps are enabled by default and need to be switched off in the settings. On desktop, the app asks for permission first. Account data is deleted 90 days after closure, vouchers after 30 days. Card and PayPal payments are processed by Braintree and PayPal, which keep their own records. IVPN complies with court orders but says it holds no connection data, and it would move to another jurisdiction if logging were mandated. There is a transparency report and a warrant canary. Our data has no case where the policy was tested in court or after a security incident. There is a separate page on the jurisdictions of other services.
Where it loses points on security
A kill switch, DNS and IPv6 leak protection, WireGuard with post-quantum key exchange and open-source apps on GitHub are all there, giving it 7.5 out of 10 for security. Points were deducted because the service does not say whether it uses RAM-only servers, offers two-factor login or runs a bug bounty program. The servers are rented from data centers such as M247 and Leaseweb. The kill switch is listed for macOS, Windows, Linux and Android; iOS is missing from that list.