Hide.me keeps a temporary record of connection data for troubleshooting purposes. This includes a randomly generated username and internally-assigned IP address.
This connection data is erased every few hours. Your location, originating IP address, and browsing behavior is not monitored or stored, which means your activity can’t be linked back to you.
In other words, Hide.me is as close to zero logs as most VPN services get.
You only need an email address to sign up, which is typical for most privacy-friendly VPN companies. Some do ask for more personal details, so it’s good to see Hide.me keeping it to the minimum.
The company encrypts and stores your email address and may use it to contact you, but you can opt out of these communications if you prefer. You can also delete your email address permanently after you’ve subscribed.
Hide.me does state that, if requested, it will hand over any information it has on a user being investigated by authorities. However, the VPN service keeps so few connection logs, your online privacy shouldn’t be affected by this.
Hide.me is safe and private
Hide.me’s approach to privacy is a good one. In fact, it was one of the first VPN services to undergo an objective third-party assessment to verify its trustworthiness.
In 2015, Hide.me was audited by analyst Leon Juranic of security-testing firm DefenseCode LTD, which verified its safe logging practices.
We don’t agree with the audit’s conclusion that Hide.me is “absolutely zero logs,” since the VPN service still keeps some temporary connection logs. However, we do agree that Hide.me is a private VPN that is completely safe to use.
Malaysian jurisdiction
The VPN is owned by eVenture Ltd, an IT security company incorporated in Labuan, Malaysia in 2011. Sebastian Schaub, its founder, launched Hide.me VPN in 2012.
Being incorporated in Malaysia is good for the company’s privacy credentials, because Malaysian law does not require VPN companies to keep logs of customer connections or network activity.
Hide.me is clear about this, stating: “We purposefully set up our headquarters in a jurisdiction that cannot, by law, request for us to record your data.”
Malaysia sits outside the surveillance agreements found in most European countries, North America, and China. The Five-Eyes/14-Eyes are “blind” in Malaysia, making it an ideal privacy haven for VPN users.
The company also releases regular transparency reports, which list any legal requests for:
- Illegal activities (DDoS attacks, scams, spam, botnets)
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violations
- Law enforcement and police requests
In 2019, Hide.me received 105 requests relating to illegal activities on its network, over 27,000 DMCA complaints, and two law enforcement requests. The company’s official statement on these requests is as follows:
“We do reply and act on every request, but as we cannot store any information, we do not have any data to present when requested.”
Overall, we view Hide.me as a very private VPN. It’s almost no-logs and has worked hard to prove its status as a VPN you can trust. Also, there has never been a security breach in the company’s history.
