Nym’s zero-knowledge network: No logging promises needed

Turning a VPN no log’s policy into a network design and guarantee

11 mins Read
nym network.webp

What is Nym’s no log’s policy? Actually, Nym has something much better than a “policy”: it provides a zero-knowledge network in which users don’t have to place their trust in anyone. Privacy and anonymity for everyone is ensured by the design for the Nym network itself. Nym doesn’t and can’t know anything about what you do!

This is because the network is designed in a decentralized way so that there is no point which has access to information connecting you personally to your traffic or its destination, and Nym Technologies has access to none of it. There is, in short, no single point of failure. Communicate online through a network that is anonymous all the way down, even to the link between payments to network use!

What is a VPN’s no logs policy?

No log’s policies have become a standard mark for whether a VPN is trustworthy or not – and many aren’t! A no log’s policy essentially promises users that their personal data will not be recorded or “logged” by the VPN company. Keeping traffic records of user activity is unfortunately a common business model of many disreputable VPNs which earn a revenue by selling metadata to third parties.

This is where the problem lies: VPNs need to promise privacy-preserving conduct because they can, in principle, keep full traffic logs of what users do through their VPN servers. VPNs that promise not to keep traffic logs have been shown, after cooperation with authorities, to actually have been keeping logs all along!

While no log’s policies are a move in the right direction, they are ultimately inadequate: users must trust the VPN company won’t mishandle their data, and in the end they will never know. NymVPN is fundamentally different: no promises are required with the guarantee of a private network design.

Nym can't log

Who sees what with NymVPN Fast mode

Who

IP of sender

IP of recipient

Normal VPN

Checkmark.svg
Checkmark.svg

Nym

Cross table.svg
Cross table.svg

NymVPN entry node

Checkmark.svg
Cross table.svg

NymVPN exit node

Cross table.svg
Checkmark.svg

Who can see what

Who

IP of sender

IP of recipient

Normal VPN

Checkmark.svg
Checkmark.svg

Nym

Cross table.svg
Cross table.svg

Nym entry node

Checkmark.svg
Cross table.svg

NymVPN mix nodes (3)

Cross table.svg
Cross table.svg

NymVPN exit node

Cross table.svg
Checkmark.svg

Explanation

  • The entry gateway can see a user’s IP address but not that of their destination (4 distinct servers intervene between the entry gateway and public web).

  • The three mix nodes in the middle cannot see either the IP addresses of the sender and recipient, meaning they are fully blind to the full route of a user’s traffic.

  • The exit gateway can see the IP address of the web destination but not the IP of the sender (4 distinct mixnet servers separate the two).

Conclusion

VPN no log’s policies boil down to a promise to users: the VPN provider pledges that they will not keep records of your traffic as it passes through their servers. In the end, most VPNs can only cloak your IP address from the public web if they are first given access to all of it through their usually centralized servers which replace your IP address with their own.

This is the problem for digital privacy: if your full traffic records are recorded on these servers, then your privacy can be undermined by data breaches or governmental overreach and surveillance.

Nym thinks that relying on the promise of a private company to not keep logs of our online activities isn’t enough to protect our privacy. To take online privacy to the next level, Nym has designed a network where NymVPN can’t log by network design. So let’s stop looking for promises from centralized VPN companies and invest in decentralized technology that protects online privacy for everyone by default.

Earlybird-email banner (1).webp

Nym's zk network: FAQs

Zero‑knowledge credentials allow users to prove membership or balance without revealing wallet info or payment metadata—making activity unlinkable on-chain or to usage.

Yes—they can support private voting, anonymous identity attestations, or feature gating without publishing actual identities—maintaining privacy while enabling accountability.

Designed to integrate with Zcash and other ZK frameworks, zk‑nyms can work alongside credential systems to deliver broader anonymous authentication services.

Validators issue credentials after initial registration. Credentials can be revoked or renewed cryptographically without revealing past identities or linking sessions across issuances.

Share

Keep Reading...

NymVPN App Blog Image

Nym is more than a VPN

The first app that protects you from AI surveillance thanks to a noise-generating mixnet

8 mins read
Nym Network Blog Image

Step-by-step guide to the Anonymous mode

How the Nym mixnet works to protect your traffic

14 mins read
nym network.webp

Why NymVPN Anonymous mode provides the best privacy

Appreciating the value of technologically enhanced VPN privacy

9 mins read
Pablo: Improve quality

Building a truly decentralized WireGuard VPN network

Understanding decentralized VPNs, multi-hop encryption, and their privacy tradeoffs

11 mins read