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CyberGhost VPN's Transparency Report
July, August, and September 2020
4 MIN READ | Last updated: Jan 18, 2021 | By Adina Ailoaiei
Legal requests – Our July, August, and September numbers
Busy does it
Far from the finish line
Well, here we are. Our second quarterly Transparency Report published during the pandemic… The unusual situation is now the new standard, and it's shaping the digital landscape.
Our lives have moved online, and we're starting to feel the effects of more online surveillance, election manipulations, privacy-invasive COVID-19 contact tracing apps, and increased cybercriminal activity.
But we're still standing our ground, protecting the anonymity of our Ghosties, and making sure they can stay private online.
Let's see how the past months have been for us in terms of legal requests.
This is the number of DMCA complaints, malicious activity flags, and police requests we got in these past three months.
This marks a 12% decrease in the overall number of requests we received compared to the previous 3 months.
We have not complied with any of these requests. We don't keep tabs on our Ghosties. We never have, and we never will.
Because we keep no logs, we have no data to pass on. On top of this, Romania, the European country where we're headquartered, is not part of any international surveillance alliance, like the 5 or 14 Eyes.
Let's take a closer look at a breakdown of our numbers.
DMCA complaints
DMCA complaints are copyright infringement claims, and they're the most common ones we get.
Various companies can file a DMCA notice on behalf of copyright holders. They do this when something has been illegally shared using one of our IP addresses.
This time, the 24,736 DMCA requests make up a whopping 90% of all our inquiries. That's in line with last quarter's 91%.
Malicious activity flags
This type of inquiries generally signals abusive behaviors originating from CyberGhost VPN IP addresses.
In this category, we include DDoS attacks, automated spam emails, botnets, various scams, or suspicious login attempts.
The total number of Q3 malicious activity flags adds up 9% of all requests. Again, this is very similar to last quarter's 8%.
Police requests
We receive police requests from various law enforcement agencies and police departments worldwide after they've traced an IP address to one of our datacenters.
Usually, they're after user data or logs for their investigations. Spoiler alert: we have no such things.
Less than 1% of all requests now came from law enforcement agencies. The situation was similar in the months before, when we had 20 such requests. Still, this number is worryingly high.
Our mission at CyberGhost VPN is to build the tools for protecting your privacy. Every day, we turn more than 36 million people from all over the world digitally invisible. It's a responsibility we don't take lightly.
So, we must always stay ahead of the game. Here are some of our latest achievements.
We launched the first truly anonymous Dedicated IP
Because we wanted to make sure you can get smooth access to IP-restricted networks without sacrificing any of your privacy and security, we challenged the VPN industry's status quo.
Normally, when you got a Dedicated IP, your VPN provider knew what static IP address they assigned you. But, because of this, you couldn't get complete privacy and security. It was time to retire the old and outdated practice.
So, we set new standards for Dedicated IPs VPN, cutting all ties between you and your Dedicated IP address with our innovative token system.
We kept our Hong Kong server fleet
On June 30, 2020, the Chinese government passed a controversial security law on the special administrative region of Hong Kong. The law threatened digital safety and freedom of expression.
Not so long after, some VPN providers have decided to leave the region.
But because we can fully protect our Ghosties' digital privacy and security, our approach is different, and we're keeping our server fleet in Hong Kong.
We're keeping a close eye on the situation in the city. We're worried about the effects this vexed national security law might have, and it's more important than ever to make sure the people of Hong Kong have a VPN they can rely on.
However, our servers are as safe in Hong Kong as they are anywhere in the world. That's because we have a strict no-logs policy and rigorous procedures for maintaining our server fleet.
We supported digital freedom in Belarus amid protests
After Alexander Lukashenko, who's been president for the past 26 years, presumably won a new term in August with 80 percent of the votes in his favor, widespread protests erupted.
To combat any allegation from the opposition, the authorities restricted access to information and digital freedom.
With all the censorship going on, we could not leave the people of Belarus stranded, so we offered them free CyberGhost VPN keys.
As a company, we have a long history of protecting privacy. After all, we were the first ones in the VPN industry to publish a Transparency Report.
We've been sharing our numbers with you ever since 2011, and ever since 2019, we do it quarterly. In case you missed our latest reports, here they are:
CyberGhost VPN's Transparency Report Q1 2019
For more details, you can always check out our Transparency Report section.
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Until next time, stay safe and secure!
Author Adina Ailoaiei
No matter if it's social media channels or blogs, Adina stays up to date with all security-related matters and aims to help fellow Ghosties protect their privacy.
Blanco Williams
Posted on 13/10/2020 at 18:23
I appreciate all your great work all over the world in guarding the freedom of private internet communication – THANKS!
Adina Ailoaiei
Thank you for your confidence in our service, Blanco. We will do our very best to exceed expectations in the future too. 😄
The Privacy Hub is our educational initiative.
Our mission is to help you navigate the ever-changing world of privacy and cybersecurity. We believe knowledge is the key to staying safe and protected online. And we're always here to keep you informed.
Alin Vlad
Chief Marketing Officer, CyberGhost VPN
Privacy is a fundamental human right. It's not about hiding; it's about protecting your individuality, particularly on the internet.
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