In this article, we explain what DNS is, how it works, and why manually configuring your DNS settings can prevent our DNS leak protection from working correctly. What is DNS?Įvery connection to the internet is assigned a unique numerical identifier known as an internet protocol (IP) address. The human brain is not designed to remember long strings of numbers, so we identify internet resources (such as websites and games servers) using more human-friendly text strings known as domain names. The Domain Name System (DNS) is like a global telephone directory that translates human-friendly URLs to the IP addresses that computers use.įor example, the URL currently maps to the IP address 185.159.159.140. If you enter 185.159.159.140 into your browser’s web address bar, it will take you to. (In practice, an IP address can map to multiple websites, and a single domain can map to multiple IP addresses. But in essence, this is what DNS does.) DNS and privacyĭNS resolution is the process of translating a domain into its matching IP address. It is performed by DNS servers, which by default are operated by your internet service provider (ISP).Īlmost all ISPs in the world keep logs of DNS queries made by their customers, allowing them to know your browsing history. Although ISPs can track your internet activity in other ways, most confine themselves to simply keeping DNS logs.Īlthough not usually done by default, it is possible for websites that you visit to see the IP address of the DNS server used to resolve the DNS query that directs you to their site. Armed with this knowledge, they (or anyone else watching the website) can then approach your ISP and ask it to reveal the IP address of whichever customer made the DNS query.īecause DNS resolution is performed by your ISP, knowing the IP address of the DNS server you used allows websites to identify which country you are in. If you are using a VPN or proxy to hide your real IP address, but your ISP’s DNS server IP address is exposed, then this mismatch can allow websites to know that you are trying to mask your real identity. Proton VPN addresses this threat by running our own DNS servers. As with all other internet traffic, DNS queries are routed through the VPN tunnel to be resolved on our servers. To the outside world, your DNS address will differ from the IP address of your VPN server, but it will belong to the same data center. (Note that IPv6 connections are simply blocked at this time, which has no effect on your internet experience.) It will therefore closely match the VPN server’s physical location. Proton VPN does not log DNS queries, and by Swiss law cannot be forced to start logging them. We also do not log the IP addresses of our users.
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