BitDefender VPN Review (2021) // Pros and Cons
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The good: BitDefender VPN uses Hotspot Shield servers, so it is important to analyze the privacy policies of both companies. Fortunately, both feature a clear no-logging policy and do not track you online. BitDefender uses the fastest VPN protocol (Catapult Hydra) and the most secure encryption standard (AES-256).
bad: BitDefender VPN does not feature a kill switch, nor does it use its own DNS servers.
What privacy and security items do we test?
- Registration Policy
- Jurisdiction
- protocol
- encryption
- Private DNS Servers
- kill test key
- leak test
1. Registration Policy
What does “Registration Policy” mean and why is it important?
Under ideal conditions, the VPN provider will not store any information about your online activities. But the conditions in which we find ourselves are not always ideal, and VPN providers keep some information of this kind – these are logs.
The purpose of creating these logs is to improve the VPN service. It helps servers to function optimally and can also prevent misuse of services. Different service providers will collect different amounts of data to this end.
In general, your VPN provider can collect four types of information about you. Some of this information has no potential to be harmful, but this is not always the case. These four types are:
- VPN service data: the version of the VPN app you used, the operating system you’re running it on, and the server you established a connection to.
- Connection data: How much data you downloaded and uploaded, when you signed in and for how long, exactly when you signed out.
- Original IP Address: This is the unique identifier of the device you used to access the VPN server and can be used to determine your exact location.
- Online Activity: Any website you went to, anything you searched for, all the online services you used. This basically means your browsing history.
Your VPN provider can anonymously collect your service and connection data – instead of taking out any single user, all data is pooled together. If that’s the case, you don’t have to worry about it. The VPN provider will get what it needs to maintain and improve its service without putting your privacy at risk. For this reason, many VPN service providers do this to some extent.
As for the third item on the list, most people don’t want their VPN to keep a record of their IP addresses. But, it’s usually not a deal breaker. Simply put, VPNs are all about anonymity, so your location should not be of interest to the provider.
However, what could definitely be a deal-breaker is the last item on our list – your online activity logs. Keep an eye out for that and be careful if the VPN keeps these logs.
We understand the importance of this, so a VPN that stores this data would not be among our recommendations. But this is not uncommon among free VPNs, which may then proceed to sell this data. This is reason enough for us to believe that you should avoid such providers.
You often hear claims about a no-logs policy among VPN providers. This sounds good but it does not always mean the same thing as there is no universal standard that can be applied. Therefore, take the time to read the entire Privacy Policy before making any purchasing decisions or seeking a review.
What is BitDefender’s registration policy?
BitDefender’s privacy policy is rather short. We’ve made it more readable to help you decode what it’s actually saying:
“We only collect (…) randomly generated or hashed user and device identifiers and IP addresses (…) We use Pango as a data processor that processes data on behalf of Bitdefender in accordance with Bitdefender’s instructions and for the sole purpose of providing VPN services to users.”
We may process the device’s location solely for the purpose of providing Bitdefender VPN functionality such as unsecured Wi-Fi notifications or the auto-connect feature. We do not store any details about your location or your online activity nor do we share them with other entities.”
The key is that BitDefender only collects randomly generated data, which means that it does not track individual users. However, it does use Pango (also known as Hotspot Shield) servers and its own data processing services.
Therefore, it is also important to read Hotspot Shield’s Privacy Policy. In short, this says:
- Your IP address is stored, but only while you are connected to the VPN: Once you disconnect from the VPN, your IP address is deleted.
- Your browsing history is never stored: Your online activity (the websites you visit and the services you use) are not tracked or stored.
What can we conclude from all this?
Your online activity is not stored and your IP address is only stored for the duration of your VPN session. It is then deleted.
Thus, you are safe.
2. Jurisdiction
What does jurisdiction mean and why is it important?
The company that provides your VPN services must be incorporated in some countries. And since the laws and regulations of that country are binding, this can make a big difference.
For example, some countries are very strict when it comes to data retention and the accompanying laws. The United States is among them as are many EU countries, Australia etc. Therefore, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) present in them are required to collect a lot of data about the Internet users. This includes emails sent, logs of websites visited, etc.
This type of mass monitoring is one of the main reasons why people turn to VPNs. With one, any data you send over your ISP’s network will be protected by encryption, making it impossible for your ISP to read. And what he cannot read, he cannot collect.
In addition to worrying about ISPs, some people also have concerns that VPNs may also have to collect data due to the laws mentioned above. But, there is one important difference here – ISP is a public provider while VPN is private. As such, the same rules don’t apply, and VPNs are under no obligation to retain user data.
Government agencies interested in this data are still serious organizations and have a few tricks up their sleeves to get the information you want. In the United States, for example, relevant agencies can issue national security letters, which are a type of classified subpoena. One of these features can make it possible for an agency to get hold of any data that the VPN may have.
Now, you might think that government agencies don’t really resort to these methods, but they do. Take what happened with Lavabit in 2013. After being pressured by the National Security Agency to reveal data on Edward Snowden, this encrypted email provider chose to shut down temporarily rather than comply. Similarly, a VPN company called Private Internet Access didn’t want to comply with Russian data logging regulations, so it decided to shut down the servers it had there in 2016. There are differences between these two cases, but they prove the same point – different agencies under government control look for data.
Users who are excluded from this can proceed in two ways.
The first is to find a VPN provider that falls within an appropriate jurisdiction. For this, you can look at the international treaties on intelligence (the UKUSA Convention is a well-known example of this), and find a country that is not a member of it. Of course, local data retention laws are just as important, and you want a country that isn’t strict in this regard. In other words, look for an external VPN. ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands while NordVPN complies with the laws of Panama, to name a few.
The other is to basically avoid the jurisdiction issue by going with a VPN provider that really sticks to a no-logs policy that can be used to identify you. As mentioned, there is no law, no matter how strict, that can make a VPN provider hand over data they didn’t have before in the first place.
Either one is a good solution, but it is also possible to combine them for added security.
What is BitDefender’s jurisdiction?
BitDefender is incorporated in Romania and is not part of an intelligence agreement like the UKUSA, but it is a member of the European Union. Since the European Union has been pushing for EU-wide data retention laws, it is good that BitDefender has a clear no-logging policy. After all, the data that she does not have, cannot be delivered.
3. Protocol
What does the protocol mean and why is it important?
The protocol is the basic technology that defines how a VPN server coordinates and transfers data over a network, whether it is the Internet or a local area network (LAN). There are different protocols available with different levels of speed and security. Most consider OpenVPN to be the most secure, ranking ahead of L2TP, PPTP, SSTP, and IKEv2.
What protocols does BitDefender use?
BitDefender VPN uses the fastest VPN protocol currently available, developed in-house by Hotspot Shield. It is called Hydra Catapult and it is much faster than OpenVPN.
4. Encoder
What does encryption mean and why is it important?
Encryption transforms data that can be read by anyone into an incomprehensible form. To achieve this, an encryption key is used, which is also how the data is later returned to a readable form.
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the accepted standard in this regard. In the field of VPNs, you will generally find two key sizes: 128-bit and 256-bit. Even the simpler AES-128 has a reputation as being unbreakable, while AES-256 takes security one level higher.
What encryption standard does BitDefender use?
BitDefender VPN uses the most secure encryption standard: AES-256.
5. Private DNS servers
What do DNS servers mean and why are they important?
When you want to check what your friends are doing, you will open the browser and type Facebook.com. This is the domain name, a short (and ideally attractive) term that allows you to go to the website you want. But the other Facebook ID is a whole lot of numbers. This is the IP address, something we can never memorize. Hence the domain names.
But for this to work, there must be a connection between the IP address and the domain name. This is where DNS servers come in. Think of them as the telephone operators of the internet age. The DNS server is a repository of many domain names and their IP addresses, and as soon as you enter the domain name you want – it sends you to the correct IP address.
When VPN providers have their own DNS servers to use, they can encrypt this process, along with all your other online activity, into the VPN tunnel. This leaves everything out of the reach of parties who might want to create, intercept or monitor logs of what you do online.
Does BitDefender VPN Use Its Own DNS Servers?
No, BitDefender VPN uses third party DNS servers.
6. Kill switch test
What does a lock switch mean and why is it important?
When you establish a VPN connection, you can surf the Internet safely knowing that your privacy is protected. But if for some reason this secure connection fails, you want to terminate your internet connection at the same moment because your activity will no longer be hidden. This is what a lock switch does and why it is important.
Does BitDefender Use a Lock Key?
Yes. BitDefender VPN includes a kill switch.
7. Leakage test
What does leakage mean and why is it important?
Even though you establish a connection to its server, sometimes a VPN may allow some of your data to pass through and remain visible. This is a leak, and there are several common types of it: IP leaks, Windows credentials leaks, DNS leaks, and WebRTC leaks.
Is BitDefender Leaking Your Data?
No, BitDefender VPN does not leak any of your data.
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