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is it worth it to swicth to mullvad browser for better privacy?
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2025
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Privacy
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In my opinion it does offer the best in class for anti-fingerprint features out of the box. Personally I don't use it because I need browser addons. Adding addons to mullvad kinda defeats the purpose, as they will make your browser extremely unique. Librewolf + addons is more fingerprintable, but still less so than Mullvad + addons imo. I feel like it is useful to have both; Librewolf + addons for your daily driver, and vanilla Mullvad for extra anonymous browsing, web searches, etc.
As a side note too, I have also heard that using Mullvad browser + Mullvad VPN is a bad idea, because it gives Mullvad as a company more information points that might potentially deanonymize you. Part of the reason why Mullvad is so great is that when an entity subpoenas your info, Mullvad can say "we don't know anything sorry." So the more information points you give, the more that defense weakens, even though Mullvad itself is trustworthy
Mullvad Browser doesn't collect your data, so the second paragraph is wrong. I completely agree with you on the first paragraph though. Also make sure not to change the window size in Mullvad Browser as that can also be used to track you. If you are using a tiling WM set a rule for it to make it floating at all times if possible. Also don't forget to disable Encrypted DNS if you're using a VPN.
I disagree; while Mullvad is very good with their no logs policies and collecting minimal info, it is generally good opsec not to centralize too many assets or data points into one company. Example: using android with chrome and google vpn, all your data is, from start to finish, in the hands of Google. Mullvad is miles better than Google of course, but I believe the same strategy applies
No, you're wrong in the sense that they literally collect 0 data on your Mullvad BROWSER usage. It can't be another data point because Mullvad likely doesn't even know if you're using Mullvad Browser, let alone what you're doing with it.
Your point is only valid in the case of internet services, which a browser isn't. A browser is a piece of software that can be replaced in a minute if let's say Mullvad's whole development team and CEO went full batshit crazy and placed backdoors in the public (and FOSS, so it can be forked) codebase, unlike e-mail etc. And your Google example is invalid because you can't compare something like Google Chrome to Mullvad Browser.
I stand by what I said, and you're misunderstanding my point. I'm not comparing mullvad to google, it was an analogy. Plus a browser handles processes in the Application layer (layer 7) in the OSI model, and therefore is a very essential part of the chain of services required for telecommunication. This is a first year cybersecurity concept.
Mullvad does collect a very small amount of info; see their privacy policy., especially in regards to payment. Seeing that most users probably don't use Monero, Mullvad does have a small amount of info on them. However, this is not what my point is.
While this is a very mininal amount of data, my point is that consolidating more information points into 1 company is a bad idea, no matter the company, and no matter the degree of data collection. You cookies, browsing history, dns record, etc. are all now potentially linked to your payment info as well as http requests, tls encrypted traffic, and network activity via the same company via both browser and VPN.
Side note: a similar opsec strategy to prevent this is defederation, which denies complete control to any 1 entity. (Lemmy!)
If mullvad ever became unhinged (which I doubt would happen, but let's entertain the thought), your entire internet access would be compromised at the browser and the network level, rather than just one or the other. You can break this up over multiple trustworthy applications to fix this. Another analogy would be to use librewolf on linux with Mullvad VPN, which are all tustworthy and come with a degree of separation as well. Now if mullvad were to go crazy, it would not affect your OS or your browser, since you were using librewolf and linux. There are less information points to work with.