India’s new policy requires VPN services to collect and potentially turn over data on their customers, including which IP addresses they’ve been using.
India’s new data-collection policy has prompted another VPN provider, NordVPN, to remove its servers from the country. NordVPN today said it will shut down its physical servers in India on June 26, the day before the country’s government starts requiring VPN providers to log and potentially turn over data on local Indian users.
“That means that a VPN company with servers in India may no longer be able to guarantee privacy for its users. In light of this, NordVPN has made the decision to remove all its servers from India,” the VPN’s parent company, Nord Security, told us in a statement. India’s new policy is ostensibly intended to fight cybercrime by making it easier for government authorities to identify and nab hackers. But it requires VPN providers to collect and turn over data on Indian users, including which IP addresses they’ve been using to browse the web.
