Why does VpnHood redact Destination IPs

Tracking the destination IP address is important for network monitoring and troubleshooting purposes. In the case of VPN servers, monitoring the destinations that clients connect to can provide important insights into network usage patterns and potential security threats such as NetStcan, and it is possible via redacted IPs.

Collecting this data also raises privacy concerns. Users may not want their online activities to be tracked, even if the data is being used for legitimate purposes such as network monitoring or troubleshooting. This is why VpnHood redacts the destination IP address to protect users' privacy.

👉 The user's destination IP or domain is one of the most sensitive data VPN servers can collect. Indeed there are many other methods by your server OS or firewall available to track them, even recompiling the VpnHood server source code and removing the redaction part easily, but we don't want to officially include it in VpnHood to respect users' privacy.

Absolutely, VPN server owners should take utmost care to protect their users' privacy and security. They should always inform their users if they need to collect unredacted destination IP addresses for certain legitimate purposes like debugging or detecting malware. Users should be given the option to opt out if they are uncomfortable with their data being collected for these purposes.

⚠️ It is also important to note that collecting destination IP addresses, even for legitimate purposes, can be risky. VPN server owners should ensure that their servers are well-secured against potential hacks or data breaches. If an attacker gains access to the server and steals the unredacted destination IP addresses, it could potentially risk their users' privacy and security.