PureVPN is a virtual private network provider that claims not to keep log files exposed by its users. The company, which protects its users, helped arrest a man from Massachusetts on Friday.
The log files, which PureVPN claims do not exist, were used to locate and arrest 24-year-old Ryan Lin.
Ryan is accused of stalking his ex-roommate, Jennifer Smith, also 24.
According to Privacy Policy of PureVPN:
We do not monitor user activity or keep any logs. Therefore, we do not have information about your activities, such as the software you used, the websites you visited, the content which you downloaded, the applications which you used etc. when you connect to one of our servers.
However, according to documents compiled by the Register, these files exist, and not only do they exist, but they also contributed to Ryan's arrest.
The indictment states:
“Furthermore, records from PureVPN show that the same email accounts – Lin's gmail account and teleportfx's gmail account – have been accessed from the same WANSecurity IP address. PureVPN was able to determine that the service they had been used by the same customer but from two original IP addresses: the IP address of Lin's home where he lived at the time and the software company where Lin was working at the time.”
The activity monitorings began in April of this year, and the authorities required PureVPN to keep log files, which it presumably continues to keep to this day – regardless of its terms of service.
Deception:
If PureVPN has issued and has Terms of Service that explicitly state that they do not collect and store the services of users of the service in log files, it has an obligation even if it collects to keep this information private.
Although Lin did something that was against the law, there are many who use the service to gain additional anonymity without malicious intent. These reasons can be:
For access to entertainment content from iTunes, Netflix, YouTube, etc.
For access to networks and websites that are censored by oppressive regimes.
For anonymity while browsing
For communication with friends and family abroad
Today one in four internet users use a VPN and of course not everyone can use it for malicious purposes.
So PureVPN was caught cheating its customers, promising not to disclose data that exposes them, when in fact it is secretly recording their actions…
