Windscribe reports that law enforcement in Europe have confiscated one of its VPN servers. But the Canadian company doesn’t expect the server to contain any user information, citing its “no identifying logs policy.”
“THIS IS NOT A DRILL: The Dutch authorities, without a warrant, just seized one of our VPN servers saying they’ll give it back after they ‘fully analyze it,’” Windscribe said in a tweet.
The same post includes a photo that appears to show the server missing from a company server rack. Windscribe also told PCMag: “We don’t have any information at this time. Server was seized and no explanation was provided except the fact that it’s in connection with an ongoing investigation.”
Specifically, Dutch authorities seized a regular VPN node based in the Netherlands, Windscribe added.
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VPNs work by adding a layer of security and anonymity to your internet connection. By routing and encrypting your traffic through a remote server, they can mask a user’s true location and activity from their internet service provider, making VPNs appealing to privacy-conscious users and cybercriminals alike.
To protect customer privacy, the best VPN providers will impose a no logs policy, preventing their servers from recording user activities, such as connection timestamps and IP addresses. Windscribe and others can do this by using RAM-only servers, which will wipe their data every time they reboot or switch off, thus preventing any sensitive data from being stored.
In a tweet, Windscribe added: “We get a handful of law enforcement requests every month. And each time we tell them we have no logs. This time they didn’t ask, they just snatched the server from the rack to look for the logs themselves. Unfortunately for them, there’s still no logs lol.”
Still, we wonder if Dutch authorities seized the server for other purposes. Windscribe recently reached over 100 million registered users. John Scott-Railton, a security researcher at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, also points out that there’s commodity equipment that can keep a server powered on while it’s being removed.
“I know nothing more about this case, but keep in mind that hotplugs that let authorities seize a server without cutting power are commonplace,” he said in a tweet.
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We’ve reached out to Dutch law enforcement and we’ll update the story if we hear back.
In the meantime, Windscribe has been mocking Dutch authorities over the server seizure. “Windscribe uses RAM disk servers so the only thing the authorities will find is a stock Ubuntu install. The bigger worry is the unredacted Epstein files we had on there…” the company added in its initial tweet.
In 2023, Swedish law enforcement also intended on seizing servers from Mullvad VPN, but apparently abandoned the effort after learning about its no log policy.
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About Our Expert
Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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