• Proton VPN has passed its fifth annual independent no-logs audit
• The audit confirms the provider doesn't log any user-identifiable data
• Proton openly published the full report, criticizing competitors who don't

If you use a virtual private network to protect your digital life, you have to trust that the provider isn't secretly recording your every move. Thankfully, one of the top names in the industry has just proved its privacy claims are more than just marketing speak.

Following up on its fourth independent audit last year, Proton VPN has announced that it successfully passed a fifth consecutive annual third-party examination. Conducted by leading European security firm Securitum, the latest independent audit confirmed that the provider strictly adheres to its no-logs policy.

This means the company isn't tracking your IP address, logging the websites you visit, or storing your DNS queries. If you are looking for the best VPN to keep your online habits completely private, this independent verification that a provider is actually keeping its promises is exactly what you want to see.

According to Proton, its privacy claims have already been stress-tested in the real world. The provider notes that its no-logs policy has been tested in over 400 legal cases where it was ordered to turn over user data, but couldn't comply simply because the logs didn't exist.

Securitum is a heavy hitter in the cybersecurity space, overseeing more than 300 security testing projects every year for major corporations and banks. In addition to reviewing Proton VPN’s servers, the auditing firm recently completed a separate security audit of all Proton applications and found no significant vulnerabilities.

Looking under the hood

During this year's assessment, Securitum experts spent several days on-site examining VPN configuration files, assessing operating procedures, and interviewing staff to ensure that user data isn't being quietly collected.

The resulting 2026 report is clear. "The technical evidence reviewed during the engagement did not indicate that the examined Proton VPN server infrastructure logs users' browsing activity, DNS queries, destination services, network traffic contents, or user-identifiable connection metadata," the auditors concluded.

The assessment also found no persistent records that could tie a specific user to activity performed on a given server.

Proton's dedication to peer review stems from its origins; the company was founded by scientists who met at CERN. Because of this, all Proton VPN apps are fully open source, meaning anyone with the technical know-how can inspect the code. The company also runs a bug bounty program to encourage security researchers to find and report potential flaws.

The provider also benefits from being headquartered in Switzerland. Under the current Swiss legal framework, Proton VPN is not subject to any mandatory data retention laws, which adds an extra layer of protection for users seeking a strictly private VPN.

Taking a swing at the competition

Alongside the positive audit results, Proton VPN took the opportunity to highlight its commitment to transparency, while throwing a little shade at rival providers.

In a blog post detailing the news, Proton CEO Andy Yen pointed out that the company publishes its full no-logs reports for anyone to read.

"Many of our competitors have never been independently audited or have performed a sleight-of-hand, getting their privacy policy audited instead of their actual no-logs infrastructure," wrote Yen.

Yen also criticized competitors who make their audits difficult to access, noting that some require users to sign non-disclosure agreements or only make the reports available to paying customers. While Proton made the full findings fully accessible here.

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