# What a VPN or proxy hides, and what it does not

HTML: https://v2rc.app/learn/privacy/ · Last reviewed: 2026-11-06

Who can see what with and without a tunnel, why trust moves to the server operator, the leaks that catch people out, and what v2rc collects.

A proxy or VPN changes who can see your traffic. It does not make you anonymous. This article lays out what changes, what stays the same, and how to check your own setup.

> **Short answer.** A tunnel hides the sites you visit from the network you are on and from your ISP. It shows them to whoever runs the server instead. Circumvention tools such as REALITY help you get through a blocked network; they are not anonymity tools.

## Who sees what

| Who | Without a tunnel | With a tunnel |
|---|---|---|
| The Wi-Fi owner or your ISP | The sites you visit (names) and how much you send | That you connect to one server, plus volume and timing |
| The websites you visit | Your own IP address and country | The server's IP address and country |
| The server operator | Nothing | The sites you visit; the content too, wherever the site does not use HTTPS |
| Sites you log into | Your account, whatever the network | Your account, whatever the network |

Two rows deserve attention. The server operator takes over what your ISP could see, so you have to trust them more than your ISP. And logging in to a site tells it who you are regardless of the tunnel.

## What a tunnel does not fix

- **Trust in the operator.** "No logs" is a promise you cannot verify from the outside. Run your own server if the question matters to you.
- **Free configs from channels and strangers.** Those servers are run by people you do not know, and they see your destinations. HTTPS still protects page content unless you click through a certificate warning. Never do that on an unfamiliar server.
- **Accounts, cookies and browser fingerprints.** Websites recognise you by what you do, not only by IP address.
- **DNS leaks.** If name lookups go to your ISP's resolver instead of through the tunnel, the ISP still sees the names. Run a DNS leak test while connected. If your ISP's resolver shows up, set a different DNS server in the app.
- **A dropped tunnel.** When the tunnel falls, traffic can continue outside it. The kill switch in v2rc reconnects automatically instead of letting that go on; it is off by default and can be switched on in Settings.
- **Addresses revealed by the browser.** Some browser features, WebRTC among them, can reveal addresses on some platforms. Test your own setup instead of assuming.

## Circumvention is not anonymity

Protocols such as REALITY aim at one thing: getting a connection through a network that blocks. They say nothing about hiding who you are from the server operator or from a website. If you need anonymity, use a tool built for it, such as [Tor](https://www.torproject.org/), and read its documentation on what it does not protect.

## How to check your own setup

1. Open the [What's my IP](https://v2rc.app/ip/) page before and after connecting. The address and country should change to the server's.
2. Run a DNS leak test while connected.
3. Look at the link of your config with the [link decoder](https://v2rc.app/decoder/). A link without TLS or REALITY, or one with `allowInsecure` set, is a warning sign. See [how to read a config link](https://v2rc.app/learn/read-a-config-link/).

## What v2rc itself does and does not collect

v2rc has no account, no built-in servers, and stores your configs and subscriptions on the device; they leave it only if you export a backup. The free version is supported by ads. Its App Store privacy label lists Usage Data as data that may be used to track you by advertising partners, and the one-time purchase that removes ads turns the ads off. The full text is in the [privacy policy](https://lukayn.com/en/privacy).

## Sources

- [Tor Project](https://www.torproject.org/): what Tor is for
- [REALITY documentation](https://github.com/XTLS/REALITY): what REALITY does
- [v2rc privacy policy](https://lukayn.com/en/privacy)