What does protonvpn's privacy policy say about logging and handing over user data to authorities?
Executive summary
Proton VPN’s published privacy policy and supporting materials state a strict "no-logs-claim">no-logs" stance—claiming no VPN session logs or identifying metadata are recorded—and emphasize Swiss jurisdiction as a legal shield that limits what the company can be compelled to hand over to foreign authorities [1] [2] [3]. The company acknowledges it will disclose the limited account data it actually holds if presented with a binding Swiss legal order and says it will exhaust legal remedies before complying with such requests [4] [3] [5].
1. What Proton VPN says it does and does not log
Proton VPN’s public-facing materials repeatedly assert that the service does not keep session usage logs, DNS queries, connection metadata that could identify users, or browsing history—summarized across the no-logs page, support articles, and the product-specific privacy policy [1] [6] [2]. Proton also emphasizes technical safeguards: servers are encrypted, full-disk encryption is used on bare-metal servers, and many servers are owned and operated by Proton itself to reduce third‑party exposure [2].
2. Swiss law as the backbone of Proton’s legal posture
A central theme in Proton’s policy is its residence under Swiss law, which the company frames as a protective factor: Switzerland does not mandate VPNs to retain activity logs, and Proton says it cannot comply with foreign authorities unless those requests are routed through Swiss legal channels [1] [3] [7]. Proton’s privacy policy reiterates that it will disclose only “the limited user data we possess” when legally obligated by competent Swiss authorities, and that such compliance follows Swiss procedural protections [4].
3. What limited data Proton admits it can disclose
Proton concedes it does hold some account-related information and—in narrow circumstances—may have a timestamp of a user’s most recent login; these are characterized as limited technical or account data rather than full activity logs, and Proton says such information is the only data it could ever provide in response to a valid Swiss order [6] [5]. The company explicitly states it does not keep the connection logs authorities typically request to map a specific IP-to-user at a given time [7].
4. How Proton responds to legal requests and transparency reporting
Proton’s transparency materials state that it rejects direct foreign requests and requires Swiss legal process, will pursue legal remedies before complying, and publishes summaries of requests it receives—claiming past requests sought connection logs that Proton could not produce because they do not exist [4] [3] [7]. The policy also notes that Swiss authorities decide whether to assist foreign requests under international legal assistance rules and that Switzerland generally refrains from assisting countries with histories of human rights abuses [3].
5. Independent audits and external verification
Proton points to independent no-logs audits (conducted by firms such as Securitum and reported in its blog and broader press coverage) as evidence that its technical configurations and processes align with the no‑logs claim; these audits have tested whether activity, metadata, and connection information are collectable and have repeatedly found no evidence of logging across Proton’s infrastructure [8] [9] [10]. Third‑party reporting echoes these audit conclusions while noting the theoretical risk that misconfiguration could enable logging if controls failed [11] [12].
6. Limits, caveats, and alternative viewpoints
Proton’s policy is clear about what it claims to keep and what it does not, but readers should note the distinction between “cannot be forced to keep logs under Swiss law” and the practical reality that Proton does retain some account-level data and technical timestamps described above [5]. Independent audits bolster Proton’s claims, yet external coverage cautions that technical misconfiguration or server compromise could, in theory, create logs—an acknowledged risk Proton mitigates through encryption, server ownership, and audits [8] [11]. The available sources do not include private legal orders or independent forensic analyses of every server, so assessments rely on Proton’s published policy, its transparency reports, and third‑party audit results [2] [7] [9].