Does Your VPN Actually Hide You?
We check 8 browser signals simultaneously - timezone, language, locale, WebRTC, geolocation and more - to see if they all point to the same country as your VPN exit IP.
Even with a VPN active, mismatches between these signals tell websites exactly where you really are.
Why Identity Coherence Matters
A VPN changes your IP address - but your browser still exposes dozens of other signals. Netflix, Google, banks, and fraud detection systems cross-reference these signals to detect VPN users. A Russian timezone + Russian language + Netherlands IP = obvious VPN user.
Signals websites check:
- IP address country
- Browser timezone offset
- navigator.language tag
- Accept-Language HTTP header
- Intl API locale (date/number format)
- WebRTC STUN IP address
- GPS/WiFi geolocation (if permitted)
- Keyboard layout inference
How to improve your score:
- Change OS timezone to match VPN country
- Change browser language to match VPN country
- Use Brave or Firefox with fingerprint protection
- Disable WebRTC in browser settings
- Always deny geolocation permission
- Use VPN with residential (non-datacenter) IPs
VPN Identity Coherence Test - FAQ
Why checking 8 signals at once reveals what your VPN is really hiding - and what it's not.
What is a VPN identity coherence test?
A VPN identity coherence test checks whether all the signals your browser broadcasts point to the same geographic location as your VPN's exit IP address. Simply having a VPN-masked IP is not enough - websites also check your browser timezone, language settings, system locale, WebRTC IP, and GPS location. If your VPN says you're in Germany but your browser timezone says Russia/Moscow, fraud detection and geo-restriction systems will identify you as a VPN user immediately.
Why does my VPN fail the identity coherence test?
Most VPNs only change your IP address - they do not modify your browser's timezone, language, system locale, or WebRTC settings. These signals are set by your operating system and browser, not your VPN. So even with a perfect VPN connection, your browser still broadcasts your real location through timezone and language data. To pass a coherence test, you must manually change your OS timezone to match your VPN server's country, update your browser language, and disable WebRTC.
What is Cloudflare's perceived location and how is it different from my IP?
Cloudflare runs one of the world's largest CDN networks and processes a huge portion of global internet traffic. When you connect through Cloudflare's infrastructure, they determine your location based on their own network routing data, which can differ from standard IP geolocation databases. The Cloudflare trace endpoint (1.1.1.1/cdn-cgi/trace) reports the country code Cloudflare assigns to your connection - useful for detecting WARP connections, proxy chains, and VPN configurations that affect routing differently than standard IP databases suggest.
How does WebRTC expose my real IP through a VPN?
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a browser API used for video calls, voice chat, and peer-to-peer file sharing. To establish direct connections between peers, WebRTC uses a protocol called ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) that collects all available IP addresses - including local network IPs and your real public IP via STUN servers. This happens at the browser level, bypassing your VPN tunnel entirely. The result: websites can read your real IP address through a JavaScript API even when you're connected to a VPN.
How do I fix my timezone to match my VPN?
On Windows: Settings → Time & Language → Date & Time → disable "Set time zone automatically" → select your VPN country's timezone manually. On macOS: System Settings → General → Date & Time → disable automatic timezone → set manually. On iOS/Android, the timezone is usually tied to your SIM card location, so it's harder to spoof. Some privacy-focused browsers like Brave also let you spoof the timezone at the browser level without changing your OS settings.
What is a good identity coherence grade?
An A grade (87.5%+) means almost all 8 signals agree with your VPN's exit country - you appear as a convincing resident of that country to websites. A B grade (75%+) is acceptable for most use cases. C or D grades mean significant mismatches exist - likely timezone, language, or WebRTC leaks - and sophisticated sites will detect your VPN. An F grade means your VPN identity is completely incoherent and you provide almost no geographic anonymity beyond IP masking.
Does this test store my IP address or location data?
No. VPNMeter's VPN Identity Coherence Test runs entirely in your browser. No IP addresses, geolocation data, timezone information, or test results are stored on our servers. All 8 signal checks are performed client-side using browser JavaScript APIs and publicly available services. Geolocation (GPS/WiFi) is only checked if you explicitly grant permission, and that data is immediately discarded after the test. We have no interest in collecting your personal data - we built this tool to help you test your own privacy.