No-logs policy
A provider’s commitment not to record which sites you visit, when you connected, or what address you connected from.
Glossary
ISP logging
The records your internet provider keeps of which addresses and domains your connection contacted.
Why it matters
It is the specific observation a VPN removes. Your ISP sees an encrypted connection to one address and nothing about what travels inside it.
What most explanations leave out
What your ISP can retain, and for how long, is set by national law and differs enormously — two years in some countries, no mandate at all in others. That is why the country briefs on this site lead with retention rather than with a product recommendation.
Related terms
Jurisdiction
The country whose law governs the company operating the VPN, which determines who can compel it and by what process.
DNS leak
When name lookups travel to your ISP’s resolver instead of through the tunnel, exposing every domain you visit.
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.