John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 01.10.2023 06:Jan AM EST

NordVPN Passes Third Independent Assurance Audit, Verifies No-Logs Claim

NordVPN proves once again that you can trust it with your data.

The popular VPN provider recently announced it had passed its third independent assurance engagement, proving its no-logs claim in the process.

NordVPN underwent its first and second independent assurance engagements in 2018 and 2020, with both being administered by auditing from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), per its earlier blog posts.

NordVPN No-Logs Claim Audit Details

NordVPN mentioned in its latest audit blog post that it commissioned its third independent assurance engagement to give its users confidence in the service the company provides, especially in the security and effectiveness of its features and infrastructure.

For this audit, the company chose Deloitte, an auditing firm well known for being in the "Big Four," to assess whether the company had been recording or storing any logs of user activity from Nov. 21 to Dec. 10, 2022, per CNET.

The other members of the Big Four auditing firms in the US are PwC, Ernst & Young, and Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, per Investopedia.

For those unaware, a VPN provider doesn't collect or store logs of its users' activity, as doing so defeats the VPN's purpose: to provide users a secure tunnel to a remote server that encrypts users' internet traffic along the way.

To properly audit NordVPN, Deloitte mentioned in its report it made inquiries with NordVPN employees and inspected the company's IT systems, and verified that their configuration doesn't save users' online activity.

The auditing firm also reviewed the description NordVPN provided regarding the services it provides as well as its servers' configuration and deployment process.

Lastly, Deloitte reviewed NordVPN's privacy-relevant configuration settings and procedures, as well as inspected whether their settings align with the description NordVPN gave.

Based on their findings during these reviews, inspections, and verifications, Delloitte concluded that NordVPN's IT systems and management of its supporting IT operations are "properly prepared, in all material respects" in line with the description the company gave the auditing firm.

Simply put, Deloitte saw no signs that NordVPN violated its no-logs promises in any way.

In light of this conclusion, NordVPN assured users and prospective customers that Deloitte's findings underline its "unwavering commitment to user privacy."

Other Uses Of A VPN

Aside from keeping users' online activity away from online ad companies, criminals, and even internet service providers, it also hides users' IP addresses by encrypting them. By doing so, users are free to send or receive confidential information or files without having to worry about anyone intercepting them.

The encryption also provides users with anonymity while browsing the web, especially when purchasing products online. It even allows users to access geo-blocked content, meaning that content only available in a certain country can be made accessible.

Case in point, people in China and Turkey regularly use VPNs to access content inaccessible through normal means thanks to The Great Firewall or government restrictions, respectively.

Finally, VPNs protect users from DDoS attacks and other cyber threats, allowing users to browse the internet safely through public Wi-Fi like those found in cafes, airports, and AirBnBs.