Not really. Your ISP may keep a log of IPs it assigned a group of routers (or, in the case of IPv6, it may uniquely assign IP ranges to each router). If your VPN provider also keeps a log of client IPs, then (correlation attacks mean) using a VPN made no difference (in terms of “hiding IP” / privacy, at least).
You can’t. The usual digital payment instruments are extensively regulated and KYC (know your customer) is a norm in many jurisdictions.
Yep. Reason why PG doesn’t recommend VPN providers[1] where law makers can coerce them in to secretly logging customer data/metadata.
Note that, even the “no log” providers may still log identifiable data to prevent abuse.[2]
notwithstanding: Clarification on the Swedish Covert Surveillance Act ↩︎
“There is an additional accounting service whose goal is to prevent abuses and ensure the continuity of the Proton VPN. Its actions are performed by a dedicated external system, owned, and managed solely by Proton Team. These servers are kept in a secure location in Switzerland. User data is not logged or stored there in redundant, unnecessary amount. The accounting service was outside the scope of the audit.” securitums-security-report-for-proton-vpns-no-logs-policy-2024 : SECURITUM : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive ↩︎