The Good Tech Companies - Court Dismisses Criminal Charges Against VPN Executive, Affirms No-Log Policy

Episode Date: April 28, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/court-dismisses-criminal-charges-against-vpn-executive-affirms-no-log-policy. Dismissal affirms no-logs policy as a valid legal defense, avoiding a chilling effect on privacy infrastructure providers worldwide. Check more stories related to cybersecurity at: https://hackernoon.com/c/cybersecurity. You can also check exclusive content about #cybersecurity, #windscribe, #press-release, #cyber-security-awareness, #cybercrime, #cyber-attack, #cybersecurity-tips, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @cybernewswire. Learn more about this writer by checking @cybernewswire's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Windscribe founder, Yegor Sak, has been fully acquitted by a court in Athens, Greece. Sak was personally charged in connection with an alleged internet offence by an unknown user of the service. The case centred around a Windscribe-owned server in Finland that was allegedly used to breach a system in Greece.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. Court dismisses criminal charges against VPN executive, affirms no log policy.by Cyber Newswire. Toronto, Canada, April 28, 2025, Cyber Newswire, Winscribe, a globally used privacy-first VPN service, announced today that its founder, Ygor Sak, has been fully acquitted by a court in Athens, Greece, following Atwa Year legal battle in which Sak was personally charged in connection with an alleged internet offense by an unknown user of the service. The case centered around a Winscribe-owned server in Finland that was allegedly used to breach a system in Greece. Greek authorities, in cooperation with Interpol, traced the IP

address to Winscribe's infrastructure and, unlike standard international procedures, proceeded to initiate criminal proceedings against SAC himself, rather than pursuing information through standard corporate channels. Greater than — this was not just about me, said SAC. It was about drawing a hard legal greater-than-line around the role of privacy infrastructure providers. As we do not log greater-than user activity, we cannot hand over what we do not have. The charges against SAC were formally dismissed on April 11, 2025. The court did not find sufficient evidence to implicate SAC or Winscribe in any wrongdoing.

A case with global ramifications the legal proceedings unfolded against the backdrop of increasing pressure on privacy tech companies worldwide. While most law enforcement agencies issue subpoenas to VPN providers when criminal activity is suspected, Winscriber outonly responds that it is unable to comply due to its strict no-logs policy, a response that is almost always accepted without escalation. This case, however, deviated sharply from that norm. After subpoenaing the data center provider in Finland, which yielded the account holder's name, SAC, Greek authorities immediately started criminal proceedings. No information was

requested from Winscribe, and the first time the company heard of the issue was after the receipt of the legal summons. Greater than, This sets a concerning precedent for anyone who owns servers that could be greater than used by others," said Sack. If upheld, it could have criminalized greater-than-infrastructure ownership for actions taken by anonymous users. Why Winscribe won't keep logs Winscribe believes that the internet should be free of censorship, personal data harvesting, targeted advertising, and geographic restrictions. Adherence Toth's philosophy is taken very seriously. The company does not pay for any advertisements or promoted content. It's a key tenet of its ethics and philosophy.

SAC emphasized that Winscribe remains committed to user privacy and operational transparency. Greater than, some say VPNs should be banned because a few people misuse them, said SAC. Greater than, by that logic, we should also ban hammers and cars. The case underscored a central challenge for privacy providers. Assisting with legal investigations requires collecting user logs. A step that fundamentally compromises the trust and utility of a privacy service. Once stored, these logs can be compelled by courts and jurisdictions where speech itself is criminalized, greater than, today it's hacking.

Tomorrow it could be speaking ill of a dictator's beard, greater than said sack. We'd rather fight in court than betray our users. About Winscribe founded in 2016, Winscribe is a VPN and privacy tools provider trusted by tens of millions of users worldwide to safeguard online privacy and bypass censorship. With a strict no-logs policy, open-source apps, and a record of fighting for us our rights in court, Winscribe remains one of the most transparent and principled providers in the privacy tech space. To learn more, users can visit https://winscribe.com media contact. Hello at

winscribe.com contact Igor Sokhelo at winscribe.com. Tip This story was distributed as a release by CyberNewsWire under Hacker Noon's Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. Thank you for listening to this Hacker Noon story, read by Artificial Intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.