NordVPN vs Proton

Paid plans renew automatically unless you cancel before the renewal date. Users need to watch cancellation timing to avoid unwanted charges.

Nord says it does not record your online activity or IP addresses for NordVPN services. That is a meaningful privacy benefit if you want a VPN provider that minimizes activity logging.

You can delete your account in the Nord Account settings or through the apps, and deletion removes access to linked Nord products. This gives users a clear off-ramp if they want to leave the service.

Nord shares personal data with service providers, other Nord companies, partners, and third parties for bundled services. Even where the policy is controlled, this expands the number of entities that may process your information.

Nord says it does not sell personal data, but it does share cookie and tracking data with analytics and advertising partners for advertising. Users must opt out through cookie controls to reduce that sharing.

If you buy bundled or standalone third-party services through Nord, your data is shared with those providers to activate and administer the service. That means those services can bring their own privacy policies and controllers into the mix.

The policy says you can request privacy actions and appeal decisions on privacy-rights requests, subject to verification. That makes its rights process more transparent than many services.

Nord states it collects and uses only the bare minimum of information needed. In practice, that suggests a narrower data collection approach, although it still collects email and payment details.

The terms require individual binding arbitration for most disputes and waive class actions, which limits the ability to sue in court or band together with other users. There is an opt-out window, but only if you act within 30 days.

Proton says it collects as little personal data as possible and does not have the technical means to access encrypted emails, files, calendar events, passwords, or notes. That is a strong privacy benefit for users handling sensitive information.

Subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel before the renewal date. If you miss the deadline, you can be charged for another term even if you no longer want the service.

Free accounts inactive for 12 months can lose emails, files, calendar entries, and passwords, with deletion notices sent in advance. That is a meaningful risk for anyone using the free tier as long-term storage.

Proton disclaims most warranties, including reliability and data security guarantees, and caps liability at $100 or what you paid, whichever is greater. This makes recovery for service problems or data loss much harder.

Proton says it does not retain full credit card details and keeps only your name and the last four digits of the card number. This reduces the amount of payment data it stores if you pay by card.

You can access, edit, delete, or export personal data through your account interface. That gives users a direct path to data portability and account cleanup without needing to rely only on support.

The company reserves the right to review and change the Terms at any time, and continued use counts as consent. Users need to keep checking for updates to avoid being bound by changes they may not notice.

While Proton does not keep permanent IP logs by default, it may retain IP addresses permanently for serious Terms violations. That means some abuse-related activity can leave lasting account records.

Proton says it does not keep permanent IP logs by default, though it may retain them temporarily for abuse prevention. Users concerned about logging get a relatively privacy-friendly default setting.