Why Your VPN's Jurisdiction Matters More Than Its Speed

Every VPN review you read spends paragraphs comparing download speeds, latency benchmarks, and server counts. Those things matter for day-to-day usage. But they tell you nothing about what happens when a government serves a legal order demanding your browsing data.

The legal jurisdiction of your VPN provider determines whether your privacy is a marketing promise or a structural reality. And most people never think about it until it's too late.

Why Jurisdiction Matters

A VPN encrypts your traffic and routes it through the provider's servers. That means your VPN company can see what your ISP used to see. The question becomes: who can compel that company to hand over information?

The CLOUD Act and Five Eyes

The US Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, passed in 2018, allows US authorities to compel American companies to provide data stored anywhere in the world. This applies regardless of where the servers are physically located.

Beyond the US alone, the Five Eyes alliance (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) and its extended Nine Eyes and Fourteen Eyes arrangements create intelligence-sharing frameworks. VPN providers headquartered in these countries operate under legal systems that can compel data disclosure, often with limited transparency.

"No-Logs" vs "Legally Can't Be Forced to Log"

Many VPN providers advertise a "no-logs policy." But there's a meaningful difference between:

• "We choose not to log" — A company policy that can change, or that a court order can override
• "The legal system structurally limits what we can be compelled to do" — A jurisdictional protection

A US-based VPN with a no-logs policy is still subject to National Security Letters, which can include gag orders preventing the company from disclosing that they've been compelled to collect data. A Swiss-based VPN operates under the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), which provides stronger structural protections and requires Swiss court authorization for data requests from foreign governments.

This isn't theoretical. There have been documented cases of VPN providers in Five Eyes countries receiving compulsory data requests — and in some cases, cooperating without being able to notify users.

Swiss Jurisdiction

Switzerland isn't an EU member, but its data protection framework (the FADP, revised in 2023) is considered adequate by the European Commission. Key aspects:

• Foreign government data requests must go through Swiss legal channels
• Swiss courts evaluate whether requests meet Swiss legal standards
• No equivalent to the US CLOUD Act or National Security Letters
• Strong constitutional privacy protections

This doesn't mean Swiss authorities never request data — they can and do. But the legal bar is higher, the process is more transparent, and the scope is narrower.

Proton VPN: The Facts

Proton VPN was founded in 2014 by scientists who met at CERN in Geneva. The company is headquartered in Switzerland and has grown to over 500 team members with more than 100 million signups across its product suite.

Here's what we can verify from public information:

Infrastructure:

• 12,000+ servers across 120+ countries
• All apps are open source (code is publicly available for inspection)
• Independently audited no-logs policy with publicly available audit reports

Free tier:

• 314 servers in 6 countries
• 1 device connection
• No ads, no data selling, no logs
• Unlimited bandwidth

Paid tier (VPN Plus):

• Up to 10 simultaneous device connections
• NetShield ad/tracker/malware blocker (DNS-level filtering)
• Secure Core (routes traffic through privacy-friendly countries first)
• Streaming optimization, P2P/BitTorrent support, Tor over VPN
• Stealth protocol (disguises VPN traffic)

App ratings:

• App Store: 4.6 stars (39.7K ratings)
• Google Play: 4.6 stars (415K ratings)

Platform support: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chromebook, Android, iOS, Chrome and Firefox extensions, Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV.

What It Does Well

Jurisdiction as a feature. This is the core point of this article. Proton VPN's Swiss headquarters isn't a marketing gimmick — it's a structural privacy advantage that speed tests can't measure.

Open source transparency. All Proton VPN apps are open source. This means security researchers can (and do) inspect the code. Combined with independent audits of their no-logs policy, this provides a level of verifiability that most VPN providers don't offer.

Streaming access for EU travelers. Proton VPN supports access to services including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and others. For EU residents traveling abroad who want to access content from their home region, this is a practical feature.

NetShield. DNS-level blocking of ads, trackers, and malware domains. This works across all apps and devices connected to Proton VPN, without needing to install separate ad blockers on each device.

Secure Core. Routes traffic through servers in privacy-friendly countries (Switzerland, Iceland, Sweden) before exiting to the destination. This means even if an exit server were compromised, the traffic's origin would trace back to a Secure Core server, not to the user.

Anti-censorship tools. The Stealth protocol disguises VPN traffic to look like regular HTTPS traffic. Smart Protocol auto-switches when a connection is blocked. Alternative routing works around network restrictions. These are relevant for travelers or anyone on restrictive networks.

What It Doesn't Do

Being honest about limitations is important — and to Proton's credit, they're upfront about these themselves.

It won't make you anonymous. A VPN is not an anonymity tool. It shifts trust from your ISP to your VPN provider and encrypts traffic in transit. But your browsing patterns, account logins, and other behavior can still identify you. Proton VPN themselves emphasize this point.

The free tier is limited. 314 servers in 6 countries with 1 device connection is genuinely useful for basic privacy, but it's a fraction of the full network. If you need multi-device coverage or specific server locations, you'll need the paid tier.

Ecosystem pull. Proton offers mail, calendar, drive, and a password manager alongside VPN. The products work well together, but switching to the full suite means deeper vendor dependency. Whether that's a concern depends on your perspective.

Speed isn't its top selling point. While Proton VPN performs well, providers with larger server networks may edge ahead in raw speed benchmarks for specific locations. For most users, the differences are negligible — but if you're optimizing purely for throughput, it's worth testing.

Jurisdiction Comparison: Swiss vs US-Based VPNs

Here's how Proton VPN compares against three US-based VPN providers through a jurisdiction lens:

All three US-based VPNs operate under the same legal framework. The CLOUD Act allows US authorities to compel data disclosure regardless of where servers are physically located. FISA Section 702 enables warrantless surveillance of non-US persons' communications. And National Security Letters can include gag orders preventing the company from disclosing that they've been compelled to act. None of these mechanisms exist under Swiss law.

Who Should Consider Switching

If you're on a US-based VPN: Whether it's Norton Secure VPN, Private Internet Access, or Hotspot Shield, your provider is subject to the CLOUD Act, FISA 702, and National Security Letters. Switching to a Swiss or EU-based VPN removes that structural exposure.

If jurisdiction is your priority: Proton VPN offers the strongest combination of favorable jurisdiction (Switzerland), open source code, and independent audits. The free tier makes it easy to evaluate without commitment.

If you want to stay in the EU: NordVPN under Lithuanian jurisdiction and Surfshark (also Lithuania) provide full GDPR coverage with large server networks.

If anonymity matters most: Mullvad VPN (Sweden) allows anonymous account creation without an email address and accepts cash payments. It's more spartan than Proton VPN but purpose-built for maximum anonymity.

If you just want something free that doesn't sell your data: Proton VPN's free tier is genuinely unusual in the VPN market — unlimited bandwidth, no ads, no logs, no data selling. Most "free" VPNs monetize through data collection. Proton subsidizes the free tier through paid subscriptions.

The Bottom Line

Speed tests are easy to measure and easy to market. Jurisdiction is harder to explain but more consequential for privacy.

A VPN that's fast but headquartered in a country where the government can secretly compel logging provides a different kind of "privacy" than one that's subject to Swiss data protection law, publishes its source code, and submits to independent audits.

Neither speed nor jurisdiction alone makes a complete decision. But if you've been choosing VPNs based on benchmark charts without considering where the company is legally based, it's worth adding that dimension to your evaluation.

Related Resources

• Proton VPN product page
• VPN Services category
• EU Alternatives to Norton Secure VPN
• EU Alternatives to Private Internet Access
• EU Alternatives to Hotspot Shield

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