What retention periods do major U.S. ISPs publicly disclose for IP logs, DNS and browsing metadata?
Executive summary
Major U.S. ISPs do not publish a single uniform retention policy; publicly disclosed figures cluster between roughly 6 months and 18 months for IP-assignment logs, while DNS query and “browsing” records are often kept for much shorter, unspecified windows or not retained as complete URL histories at all [1] [2] [3]. There is no federal law that mandates a specific U.S. retention period, and many providers are deliberately opaque—leaving a patchwork of company statements, press inquiries and third‑party surveys as the only available evidence [4] [1].
1. How long do ISPs say they keep IP-assignment logs? — a rough 6–18 month band
Public reporting and press inquiries indicate a common industry range: several ISPs report keeping IP-assignment and connection logs for months to about a year, with Verizon telling TorrentFreak it retains IP-assignment records for 18 months (the longest disclosed), Qwest/CenturyLink answering about one year, and several other providers reporting six months or around a year in various statements [1]. Multiple community and help‑desk sources mirror that range, noting that IP‑assignment retention commonly appears between roughly 180 days and 24 months depending on provider and the type of log [5] [6].
2. DNS queries and browsing metadata — typically shorter, often vaguer
DNS query logs and fine‑grained browsing metadata are treated differently: public guidance and technical writeups suggest DNS records are frequently retained for far shorter spans—days to weeks—or aggregated for network analytics rather than kept as long raw timelines, and many ISPs state they do not store detailed URL‑by‑URL browsing histories as account‑level records [3] [7] [2]. Third‑party DNS use (Google, Quad9, etc.) further fragments what any single ISP can claim to “have” about a customer’s lookups [8] [3].
3. Why the variation? legal gaps, operational needs and business secrecy
The United States lacks a uniform statutory retention period for consumer ISP logs, so retention often reflects a mix of legal compliance practices, operational troubleshooting needs, and business decisions—plus the costs of storing large volumes of metadata—which produces wide variation and deliberate opacity in public policies [4] [8]. Industry interviews and aggregated reporting emphasize that absent a subpoena or law‑mandate, companies balance forensic utility against storage cost and privacy optics [1] [6].
4. What “browsing history” actually means — and why ISPs often deny storing it
Multiple sources caution that “browsing history” is a misleading label: ISPs can hold connection metadata (IP addresses, timestamps, volumes) that allow mapping to activity but generally do not keep the page‑level content that site operators log; encryption and use of third‑party DNS obscure what ISPs can directly observe, and many providers explicitly say they do not keep detailed browsing/search logs in the way consumers imagine [2] [3] [8]. That distinction explains why corporate statements often deny retaining browsing histories while acknowledging retention of connection metadata for months.
5. Caveats, enforcement and how long data can persist after account closure
Even when ISPs state a retention window, exceptions exist: legal holds, active investigations or billing and audit needs can extend retention, and some providers only delete or anonymize identifying links after service termination—which community reports suggest can vary from immediate deletion to retention tied to account lifecycles [4] [5]. Independent surveys and reporting also document secrecy: many large providers either don’t detail retention publicly or have changed their practices over time, so available figures are best taken as provider‑reported snapshots rather than immutable rules [1].
6. Bottom line and limits of reporting
The most defensible summary from the available reporting is this: for major U.S. ISPs, IP‑assignment/connection logs are commonly disclosed in the range of roughly six months up to about 18 months, DNS logs and fine‑grained browsing metadata are typically retained for shorter and less well‑specified periods, and significant variability and exceptions exist because no single federal mandate standardizes retention [1] [2] [3] [4]. The sources used are a mix of investigative reporting, technical explainers and community Q&A; many ISPs remain vague in their public policies, and definitive, up‑to‑date retention tables published by the providers themselves are rare [1] [8].