Personally identifiable logs can track a VPN user to a real identity. The real identity is unmasked via users’ personally identifiable records kept in the digital space. The records include a person’s name, date and place of birth, parents’ identities and biometric details. All this information can help unmask a person’s identity.
A good no-logs VPN should not possess such sensitive information if protecting user anonymity is the platform’s core mission. For instance: In 2016, ExpressVPN (one of the best no-logs VPNs) could not help investigative agencies identify a user who deleted important data on the platform. The data had evidence to help authorities investigate the events surrounding the assassination of a Russian diplomat.
The only way users are assured of the security of personal information is to use secure platforms, including VPNs, for various transactions. However, like all the other digital platforms, even so-called no-logs VPNs may be at risk of being compelled into giving up this information, especially when the platforms are based in certain territories.
For instance, member countries of the Five-Eyes, Nine-Eyes and 14-Eyes Alliances have imposed intelligence data-sharing regulations. If a user’s VPN is based in any country under these alliances, there will always be the risk of personally identifiable information landing in the hands of authorities.