If your main reason for using a VPN is to enhance your online privacy, you need to make sure the VPN provider you choose commits to a robust no-logging policy.
If they do not, you can assume that they log your traffic and that they don’t deserve your trust.
With that in mind, in this post, we ask the question: does CyberGhost VPN keep logs?
And the answer is that according to their privacy policy, they don’t log. CyberGhost VPN puts forth a strong, properly worded, no logs policy. Awesome.
However, CyberGhost VPN is owned by Kape Technologies (formerly known as Crossrider), which is a company with a history in AdTech and which has been caught spreading malware in the past. Not exactly what you’re looking for when looking to safeguard your privacy…
Let’s dig a little bit deeper around this question.
Visit CyberGhost VPN (SAVE 79%)What Makes a Trustworthy VPN?
While a VPN provider’s logging policy is critical in assessing its value, it’s not the only thing to look at. A VPN provider that doesn’t log your traffic but that, for example, uses compromised ciphers or obsolete protocols won’t be of much help…
So what makes a trustworthy VPN provider? A trustworthy VPN provider should be able to answer the following questions:
Security Considerations In Assessing VPNs Providers:
- Encryption Strength: What are the ciphers and protocols that the VPN provider supports? Are they weak and obsolete? Do they contain any known vulnerabilities?
- VPN Kill Switch: Do they provide a network kill switch that blocks your traffic in the event of a disconnect in their apps?
- DNS Leak Protection: Do they provide DNS leak protection by running their own in-tunnel no-logging DNS servers?
- Ads & Tracker Blocking: Do they support ad and tracker blocking?
- WebRTC Protection: Do they prevent WebRTC leaks?
- Tor Over VPN: Do they support relaying your VPN traffic over the Tor network?
- Jurisdiction: In which jurisdiction are they based? Are they outside a 14 Eyes jurisdiction? And is it legal to run a no-logging service in that jurisdiction?
- Support for Anonymous Payments: Do they accept cash or Bitcoin payments?
- Collected Information at Sign-up: How much personal information do they require for you to sign-up? Is it only an email address or is it more?
Make sure you get answers to the above questions before you sign-up for a VPN service.
However, while all these points are important, my point here is that logging your traffic will undermine any gains made from the above. So make sure you choose a VPN provider that does not log.
Why is the Logging Policy so Important?
The logging policy is so important because, as stated above, it’s the logging policy that enables all of the other privacy benefits provided by VPNs.
A VPN provider can use as much security marketing lingo as they want, they can use the most secure VPN protocols and trusted ciphers, but if they log your traffic, what have you gained?
Without a strong no-logging policy and the technical infrastructure to enable no-logging a privacy feature list is meaningless…
What Does No-Logging Mean?
A robust and trustworthy no-logging policy will commit to not collect the following:
- Traffic logs
- IP address logs
- Connection logs
- Connection/disconnection timestamps
- Bandwidth logs
Remember that using a VPN doesn’t make you invisible. While your ISP may no longer be able to explicitly see what you’re doing online (besides connecting to a VPN server), that ability has been handed over to your VPN provider.
So trust is essential and for a VPN provider to be considered trustworthy, it’s essential that they do not log.
So, What About CyberGhost’s Logging Policy?
CyberGhost’s no-logging policy is actually quite good – at least on paper.
They have a dedicated page on their website explaining their no-logging policy:
We do not collect or store:
- Your IP address
- Your DNS queries
- Your browsing history
- The web content you accessed
- Your connection timestamps
- Your disconnection timestamps
- Your session duration
- Your bandwidth usage
- The VPN servers you connect to
We have no idea what you do online after you connect to one of our servers, or how much bandwidth you’ve used. It’s none of our business.
This is very good. It’s comprehensive, easy to understand and to the point. We like that.
However, things aren’t all fine and dandy here. The issue with CyberGhost is its parent company: Kape Technologies (formerly known as Crossrider).
As mentioned in the opening paragraphs, Kape Technologies/Crossrider has a history in the AdTech market (not usually a friend of VPNs) and that company has been caught spreading malware (via AdTech) in the past.
That’s not really the reputation you’re looking for from a VPN provider that is supposed to help you enhance your privacy (rather than violate it).
So while they have good privacy policy writers, I’m not sure I would trust CyberGhost with my data. Their ownership structure makes them harder to trust.
It’s Still a Trust Issue
And at the end of the day, it will always come down to trust.
I need to trust a VPN provider to act as it claims to act. I can check my IP address to see if I’m connected or not, but I can’t do a “logging” test – I need to trust.
A provider can have as many policies as it wants, whether it adheres to its own policies is another question.
And given CyberGhost’s parent company’s past, it’s difficult not to feel unsettled about their commitment to privacy.
And while we haven’t heard horror stories about CyberGhost VPN customers having their data sold or anything like that, it’s hard not to lump them into the “venture-capitalists-looking-to-profit-from-people’s-concern-over-privacy” category.
They definitely don’t have the “human rights activists” VPN provider feel to them.
So can we trust CyberGhost VPN? I’m afraid not.
And So...
Does CyberGhost VPN keep logs? Apparently not, but they have a trust deficit.
Would I recommend CyberGhost VPN to the privacy-minded? No.
Would I recommend them if what you’re primarily looking to do with your VPN is to bypass geo-restrictions and unblock Netflix over VPN? Sure, they actually do that really well.
I just wouldn’t treat them as a “privacy” company.
For more information on CyberGhost VPN, check out our CyberGhost VPN review and our Does CyberGhost VPN Allow Torrenting/P2P? and our Does CyberGhost VPN Work With Netflix? articles.
If you’re looking for a trustworthy no-logging VPN provider, check out our reviews of NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, ProtonVPN, and Surfshark.
Visit CyberGhost VPN (SAVE 79%)Does CyberGhost VPN Keep Logs?
By Marc Dahan
Last updated: September 2, 2020