Another point to note is that of their 1,500 servers, 1,200 are virtual servers. This footprint is modest, but it’s not a noticeably paltry number. Norton Secure VPN has 1,500 servers spread across 31 countries, with 200 server locations in 73 cities. For a good example, check out our NordVPN review, which features more than 5,000 servers in more than 60 countries. When we’re evaluating VPNs, we tend to favor those with the largest footprints, because it typically means that there are multiple servers in our general region which can help increase speeds as we’re surfing the web. The number of servers and the spread of those servers across countries creates the conditions for a VPN to be successful. When it comes to your personal data, however, Norton claims that subscriber information could be provided to third parties such as “government-related auditors” and “services providers” which feels open-ended and a little suspect, but the fact that the company doesn’t log user data or have agreements to sell data to third-party advertisers is enough to keep them above board in our eyes. That means your usage data is private, even from Norton. Norton Secure is a “no-logs” VPN, which means it doesn’t collect any data that can identify you when using the VPN. One is personal data you provide when accessing the Norton website and creating an account, and the other is usage data, which refers to any information collected by the service when you connect to the VPN.Īlthough Norton collects data like your IP address and geolocation when you visit its website, it doesn’t collect those kinds of information when you use the VPN itself. Now, there are two types of data VPN providers typically collect. This transparency is a nice way for the company to assuage some of our reservations about their jurisdictional shortcomings. On their website they offer a detailed look at how they handle data, with subsections for each of their products, VPN included. The data Norton does collect is relatively benign, and generally standard for the industry, though there were a couple of points that gave us pause. Norton doesn’t log where we visit on the Internet, so even if they were forced to hand over data, there wouldn’t be much for governmental agencies to go on. To Norton’s credit, however, they do provide a transparent look at how they handle data, which gave us a bit of reassurance. On its face, this is a red flag for us since it indicates that the company may be forced to hand over user data at some point. The United States is a global leader in Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes, international cooperatives of countries committed to sharing intelligence. Unfortunately, Norton is a US-based company, which puts them under a jurisdiction notorious for gathering data from its citizens. That being said, VPN companies themselves have access to that protected data of yours, so it’s important to establish trust with a VPN provider first before engaging its services.Ĭan you trust Norton? A Jurisdictional Issue Using a VPN keeps your online data and browsing history private and away from the prying eyes of your internet provider, the government, and other external actors that might be interested in your data. Let’s start with the main concern that encourages internet users to use a VPN: privacy. Privacy and Security Concerns With Norton It may not be the most innovative, feature-rich VPN, but it gets the job of encrypting online data and hiding IP addresses done. Norton is a trustworthy digital security brand that can provide you with decent privacy and protection from online dangers through the Norton Secure VPN. No P2P or BitTorrent Support: While many VPNs offer peer-to-peer and torrent downloading on specified servers, Norton Secure VPN has a blanket ban on this type of file sharing, which is disappointing.Lackluster Streaming Support: If accessing streaming libraries outside of your geographical region is the main reason that you’re getting a VPN, look elsewhere as Norton Secure VPN was inconsistent in that area during our testing.Kill switch on Android and Windows only: A kill switch is a crucial VPN feature, but only the Android and Windows versions of Secure VPN have a kill switch.Built-In Ad Tracker Blocking: The VPN comes integrated with an ad-blocker and tracker remover that gives users extra privacy and a better online experience.Its website has an impressive knowledge base, and its live chat and 24/7 phone support is something we don’t see in VPNs often. Professional-Grade Customer Support: Because Norton is such a big company with nearly 11,000 employees worldwide, 1 it offers top-tier customer support.You can pay as low as $4.99 for one device to $9.99 for 10 devices. Flexible, Competitive Pricing: The subscription cost depends on the number of devices you want to protect.
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