VPN jurisdiction is, in a nutshell, where a VPN's headquarters is based – and it's an important factor to consider when hunting for a new service. Why does it matter, you ask? Well, different countries have different attitudes toward data retention, and some even have mandatory data sharing and surveillance laws that a VPN, if based in such a country, has to abide by.
The best VPN services are those that are based outside the clutches (jurisdictions) of multi-nation alliances, such as the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes. This means they cannot be compelled to spy on their users, log their activity, or hand it over to the authorities.
In this article, I'll dig into the importance of VPN jurisdiction, what data alliances are, and how you can pick a really secure VPN.
What is a VPN jurisdiction?
VPN jurisdiction refers to where a VPN is legally based, meaning which region's legal framework governs its operations. It's crucial that you look at the VPN's jurisdiction before signing up because the local legal system includes data retention laws, the ability of the government to intervene in the VPN provider's day-to-day, and surveillance regulations.
All this means that a VPN's jurisdiction – and the laws therein – massively impact its ability to boost your digital privacy.
The most important thing of note here is that these laws can differ massively from country to country, with some jurisdictions being stricter and enforcing surveillance, while others offering a breathable legal environment without any mandatory directives for internet businesses.
National intelligence agencies like the GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) and NSA (National Security Agency) are very powerful and have the authority to force VPNs (even those with no-logs policies) to give up personally identifiable information about their users.
If you're interested in the ins and outs of VPNs, head on over to our jargon-free guide to how VPNs work.
Even worse, they can send a gag order that makes it illegal for the VPN to tell its users that it's being compelled to log and share their private information. This is undoubtedly a massive VPN red flag and flies in the face of why a lot of people use VPNs in the first place, unfortunately.
It's also well worth noting that VPN servers are not the same thing as VPN jurisdiction. Most VPNs have thousands of servers spread in hundreds of locations around the world, but those servers have to abide by the laws of the countries in which they're located, whereas the VPN only has one jurisdiction.
It may so happen that authorities seize individual servers, which is why the VPN must follow a strict no-logging policy – so that there's no data in the server for authorities to find in the first place. However, while individual servers can be examined by the authorities, the VPN, if based in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction, cannot be compelled to share any information whatsoever.
Data sharing alliances
It might sound like something from a spy movie, but there really are powerful international surveillance agencies that have joined hands to form a series of alliances. They do this to pry on almost everything everyone in the world does.
The most notorious (and data-hungry) alliances are the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes alliances.
Although these alliances might, on paper, look like they work for a noble cause (ostensibly acting in the name of law enforcement and counterintelligence, they are, in reality, data-harvesting machines that do a lot of mass surveillance to collect and share data with each other.
This means that if one country harvests your data (like your browsing history, communications, and more), there's a high chance it could end up in the hands of another, so long as they’re in the same alliance.
The Five Eyes alliance's main aim is to monitor the online activity of its citizens
For example, the Five Eyes alliance's main aim is to monitor the online activity of its citizens, and a member of the alliance can even ask another "Eye" to do that for them – so that they can stay in the clear with regard to their own country's laws and regulations.
Even worse, the Five Eyes nations don't work alone; they have satellite partners to assist them in their intelligence-gathering tasks. Some of these partners include Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the British Overseas Territories.
It's worth noting that the Five Eyes countries are more cutthroat when it comes to VPN users (they've passed various laws and forced ISPs to submit private user data, etc) as compared to the other two alliances. Similarly, the Nine Eyes countries have less intrusive surveillance policies and agencies as compared to the Fourteen Eyes alliance.
All in all, you should avoid VPNs based in any of these jurisdictions to prevent your sensitive information from being passed on to authorities.
Picking a VPN – what to look for
A VPN that doesn't protect your data from snoopers isn't worth using. Plus, when you're paying a subscription fee for a premium VPN, you naturally want top-notch privacy and security.
With that in mind, here are the most important factors to consider when hunting for a secure VPN.
- Is it a member of an intelligence-sharing alliance? Countries in the Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes alliances tend to have a more invasive approach to data retention. I recommend avoiding VPNs based in these locations.
- Does the country have a history of surveillance or censorship? Some countries, like China and Russia, impose strict internet censorship measures and keep a close eye on browsing logs to prevent dissidents and access to global platforms. These countries can force VPN providers to hand over user data.
- Does the VPN have an audited no-logs policy? A VPN with a clear-cut privacy policy is way more transparent and trustworthy, since you know exactly what’s happening to your data. I recommend prioritizing VPN providers that have undertaken independent third-party audits to prove their privacy claims.
- Is the VPN based in a privacy haven? The flip side of not choosing a VPN based in a privacy-invasive jurisdiction is to pick a VPN located in a privacy haven. These include the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the Seychelles, the Cayman Islands, and Malaysia.
