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Mullvad is now available on Amazon
- humanistbot 4y agoIf you're paranoid about privacy, why would you trust Amazon of all retailers?
- Cthulhu_ 4y agoSee, this article made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end; I don't believe this is aimed at legitimate users of the service, but aimed at people who are told to go and buy one of these cards for someone else.
- humanistbot 4y agoSo if you're paranoid, would you fund your account through a card that was bought on Amazon by a family/friend? Instead of linking back to you, it links back to someone close to you, who probably has no privacy/security skills and bought it by asking their Echo Speaker.
- anonporridge 4y agoIf you're that paranoid, this product isn't for you. You're buying time with monero you mined personally, and for a 10% discount that Mullvad offers. And realistically, if you're that paranoid, you're not trusting VPNs at all. You're using Tor.
- diebeforei485 4y agoThis is good. In countries that filter the internet, people do buy and sell physical VPN gift cards, to enable usage of somewhat shady VPNs. Here's a totally legit option.
- dom96 4y agoI recently started to use Mullvad. They really appear to be the most innovative in the VPN space when it comes to privacy.
- d4rkp4ttern 4y agoNaive question — how is this better than say Express VPN ?
- crazygringo 4y agoThis seems extremely clever. I know Mullvad already allows you to e.g. send cash in an envelope for total privacy, but that's kind of a pain, it'll take a long time to arrive, if the envelope is lost there's nothing you can do, etc. But by physically printing covered-up codes on cards, this actually uses Amazon to create the privacy/anonymity, which kind of feels ironic given how Amazon generally tries to hoover up all the data. You can get your code with fast Prime delivery, a tracking number, pay for it with your credit card, get a free replacement if it's lost in the mail... I love this.
- w4rh4wk5 4y agoRegarding the Amazon tracking part. There is no requirement to use the card yourself, you could just hand it down or sell it. While the majority of people might still redeem the code themselves, you can't automatically assume that the person who bought it is the one using it.
- giraffe_lady 4y agoeh you don't need to prove much anymore that's what parallel construction and plea deals are for.
- hangonhn 4y agoIf it's only one card, then you can say that. But if there is a pattern of Amazon account X buying these cards to be used for Mullvad account Y, then it's harder to deny. Is it possible to redeem Amazon gift cards without an Amazon account? I suppose another thing you can do is buy and swap cards with other people. Each card can be up to 12 months so you don't actually need to do this that many times.
- masukomi 4y agothere's no way to prove that the cards bought on amazon account X were used for Mullvad account Y. That would require knowing the codes on the cards that amazon sold you, which no-one would. all that can be said with certainty is: 1. that these people bought mullvad cards on amazon. 2. these mullvad accounts were paid with cards All you can say is that 2 is a subset of 1. If mullvad sells the cards literally anywhere else, then you can't even say that with certainty.
- A_No_Name_Mouse 4y agoWhat is the threat model where correlating the payment with the account number is the main threat? If you can relate the account number to Mullvad traffic, then isn't it far easier to monitor the traffic and see what IP is connecting through it (my local ISP IP)? And if you cannot, what harm is there in knowing someone uses Mullvad? I pay by bank card and I don't see the risk here.
- dahfizz 4y agoI think the threat model is a three letter agency demanding a list of customers from Mullvad. Mullvad does their best to make sure no such list exists, but by having credit card info they are forced to know your identity.
- A_No_Name_Mouse 4y agoI assume that all national security agencies monitor all traffic and can already see I only connect to Mullvad. And I'm sure they will have noticed I use it when going through the logs of several SaaS services and see that it is always a Mullvad IP that uses my account. No secret IMHO
- gzer0 4y agoOften times, some take the extra step of utilizing services such as rdp.sh or any other "instantly" deployable VM in the cloud (these are services that take monero/cryptos btw), sort of like a bastion host. Once connected to that instance, they would then deploy their mullvad that was bought via amazon to add yet another layer of obfuscation. Home ISP ---> (optional VPN to connect to rdp.sh deployed VM in the cloud) ----> Mullvad VPN on the bastion host This is of course, not viable for the long term and very cumbersome to deal with if you're doing this on the daily. Unless you are under threat of a nation-state threat actor... you'll be fine.
- anonporridge 4y agoIf you're already doing this and buying an instance with monero, you're just buying Mullvad service with monero as well for the 10% discount they offer for it.
- ryankrage77 4y agoDoesn't this allow Amazon to know who is paying for Mullvad? Obviously correlating a purchase to a specific account is much harder, but it still seems like a compromise on privacy.
- Cthulhu_ 4y agoWell yeah, but if it comes to a court case, someone will have to prove that the person that bought the card was also the one that used it. On top of evidence of actual crime, of course.
- ezfe 4y agoWell yeah, but if you do it directly then your CC company knows. Someone will know, it's just a matter of who. You get to pick that.
- 0______0 4y agoYou can send Mullvad an envelope of cash (not kidding) and then no one will know (hopefully)!
- makerofspoons 4y agoCouldn't you cash-buy an Amazon gift card and then have it shipped to a locker?
- caeril 4y agoYes, buy the Amazon gift card from a store with cameras, with an account set up with your burner SIM purchased from a place with cameras, and pick it up from an Amazon Locker blanketed with cameras. Use cash with fully-tracked serial numbers for all these purchases. Sounds like a solid plan. You guys don't seem to realize that tyranny won decades ago, and you're fighting a war that has long been lost. We are all serfs and slaves.
- j-bos 4y agoDeep breath, no need to rain. As for your point, in any challenge loss is assured by despairing and giving up. So no, winners haven't been declared yet.
- wintermutestwin 4y ago>The design of the activation code removes the possibility for third parties to link a payment to a Mullvad account, for privacy. Considering that a primary use-case for a VPN is as one of the tools to help shield your data from the rampant data thieves, of which Amazon is a particularly powerful adversary, I would need a much clearer explanation of how this is a privacy enhancer. Mullvad having a business relationship with Amazon is inherently troubling.
- cycomanic 4y agoMullvad has been selling these cards at various retailers, one of them webhallen which is both an online and physical store in the nordics. However, many/most people in the US get a large fraction of their purchases through amazon. So to sell to people in the US they need some way of doing it. The important bit is that the actual account code is hidden behind on of those scratch panels. So amazon does not know your Mullvad account. Now an adversary with enough geographic information about who connected and access to all of amazon's data could possibly correlate purchases with connections. 10 years ago I would have considered that infeasible, after Snowden I'm not so sure. If you live in a big city it is like still no issue, but if you are in some small town with a population of 1000 things might still be traced back to you. Still it's likely significantly superior than pretty much any other method including using crypto. If you are a possible target of a state actor you hopefully are thinking about this already.
- gorbypark 4y agoI think the idea is that what you are getting from Amazon is a card with a code on it. Amazon doesn't know which code it's sending you, you just get one at random. Mullvad likewise doesn't know which code Amazon sold you. So you get your card, enter the code into Mullvad, and none of that information is trackable to you. Amazon would know you bought a Mullvad card but would have zero way to link you to a specific code. Mullvad might know the code was purchased from Amazon, but not who was the purchaser. Worst case scenario is that Amazon rats you out to the police/CIA/NSA/etc and now you are on a list of people that purchased Mullvad VPN services.
- OJFord 4y agoNice! To be honest my reaction to removing subscriptions was a bit 'ehh, I get it, I know I should be pleased, but subscriptions are actually really convenient'. But this is pretty much fine. Maybe/hopefully (I'm not too lazy to check - 'GB' is 'upcoming') I can Amazon-subscribe and the only difference will be a bit of code-entering admin.
- joshstrange 4y agoI also was a little annoyed with having to manually manage something that was on auto-pilot for me but I found a happy medium I think. I bought 2 years in advance and then I have reminders every year to add another year. That way I should always keep a 1 year buffer if something slips a little. It's not perfect but I don't think it will be that bad.
- OJFord 4y agoI considered that, I haven't really used it enough yet to commit for so long though. Put it on my mental 'backlog' as it were for now while I have the existing subscription (good until the card its on expires iirc), and in the mean time this popped up.
- thepasswordis 4y agoMullvad is absolutely killing it with this stuff. Mullvad: PLEASE don't sell your company.
- sshine 4y agoI'm pretty sure they won't. https://mullvad.net/en/about/ https://mullvad.net/en/about/ About us Mullvad VPN AB is owned by parent company Amagicom AB. The name Amagicom is derived from the Sumerian word ama-gi – the oldest word for “freedom” or, literally, “back to mother” in the context of slavery – and the abbreviation for communication. Amagicom stands for “free communication”. The team Mullvad VPN AB and its parent company Amagicom AB are 100% owned by founders Fredrik Strömberg and Daniel Berntsson who are actively involved in the company.
- dosshell 4y agoMy impression of Fredrik and Daniel is that they are passionated about the technology - not making a startup exit. If they did an exit, which i don't think they do, it would probably be because they want to go back to a smaller company again. They would just start a new smaler vpn service after they got paid. disclaimer: I'm a random dude on the internet that thinks he know more than he does.
- ccn0p 4y ago...says every founder ever!
- 4y ago
- KindAndFriendly 4y agoThere is this really great South Park episode where one of the characters has the 'ability' to distinct between actual news content and advertisements disguised as news [1]. I feel like this is - sadly - more and more required as well when browsing HN as there seem to be more and more postings where an advertisement is disguised as 'hacker news'. Can someone enlighten me how the availability of coupon codes for a VPN provider on Amazon is considered news? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7XOCG_P6o4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7XOCG_P6o4
- YetAnotherNick 4y agoBecause mullvad has no info who bought this, so if they get any warrant or anything asking to track someone, they could say they can't technically do that.
- humanistbot 4y agoBut Amazon straight up gives camera access to Ring Doorbells to police without user consent or a court warrant. If you're paranoid and a Mullvad customer, you should probably treat Amazon as if it was a part of the US government.
- vlovich123 4y agoNon sequiter. All the government could force Amazon to reveal is that you purchased that gift card. They can’t A) prove that you used it vs handing it out as a gift B) tie the purchase to a specific Mullvad account.
- humanistbot 4y agoNon-sequitur, but no worries. To a prosecutor, that means they have a conspiracy or even RICO case on their hands.
- dosshell 4y agoThis got me thinking... The government do get a limit number of potential users. Can this together with fingerprints, ping latency(?) etc. be used together with amazon info to narrow down the vpn user (in theory) or is that impossible? For example, if mullvad only had 5 users in separate continents, could one measure the latency and crossreference with a amazon buy history to identify the vpn user?
- tener 4y agoI wonder how refund works. What if one buys the code, copies it and then ships the voucher back asking for refund? How do you invalidate the code without linking the code to the purchase?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- jffry 4y agoI would imagine that Amazon either won't let you refund this (since it's basically a gift card), or if you try to refund it and return an opened package your refund will get denied. No need to specifically invalidate the code inside to stop you from doing refund fraud.
- dewey 4y agoIt looks like a scratch-off code like on Netflix gift cards. Once you scratched it off there won't be a refund available would be my guess just like any other gift card and many digital purchases.
- Zircom 4y agoAs someone who does handles a lot of gift cards, it's not hard at all to cover the code back up. They sell little peel and stick things online, or it's not hard to make your own. There are people that go around to stores, take unactivated giftcards, scratch off the sticker to get the code, and will then reapply another one and put it back in the store to be bought and activated by someone, meanwhile they are periodically checking whatever website you can see the balance on to see if it's been activated yet so they can use it or sell it out from under you. So my guess would be Amazon doesn't take returns on giftcards in the first place.
- Mandatum 4y agoAmazon does. And then they mix the stock in with regular stock. Look at the hundreds of people online who bought Battlefield 2042 from Amazon. They ship a CD case with a slip of paper inside which has a code. Hundreds of people tried to redeem codes that had already been used. This happens to every code-consumption-based retailer. Thankfully Amazon still eats the cost of "doing business" currently.
- napolux 4y agoWhat about Italy?
- prophesi 4y agoKind of surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but it's pretty commonplace to buy gift cards with cryptocurrencies. So there's yet another layer of anonymity if you buy an Amazon gift card from a stranger/service then use it for a physical Mullvad activation code.
- cosentiyes 4y agoIs there a good way to receive the physical good without providing your address, though?
- purist33 4y agoYou can deliver the package to a amazon approved distribution center ( I dont know what they call them. Basically a shop where they hold your stuff until you come around and pick it up ). If you want to anonymize it, you can deliver it to some other state's distribution center and drive there to pick it up. Even better is to give a stranger your phone, to go and fetch it from the store, so that your face isnt visible in a CCTV cameras near the store, and while they come back to deliver it to you, you can fake a mugging and "steal" your own phone and the gift card while wearing a PPE kit or something, so that they dont know your dimensions.
- vorpalhex 4y ago"Officers, I just saw a mugging. Can you please send someone?"
- hansword 4y agoDo you, by chance, write cheap adventure stories for a living? Cause this sounds like something I read a few months ago. A pretty silly plan.
- purist33 4y agoWasn't it clear enough that I meant for it to be silly ?
- xyst 4y agoThis is great, but I would rather not support Amazon. I might use this as a last resort method.
- hnarn 4y agoIt’s a great compromise. It allows Mullvad to sell physical cards without becoming a logistics company, and anyone who doesn’t want cards (or doesn’t want to support Amazon) can use one of the numerous other options available, including paying with cash.
- eddof13 4y agothis is cool, but I think NordVPN at least offers the same thing: https://nordvpn.com/retail/ https://nordvpn.com/retail/
- ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago> this is cool, but I think NordVPN at least offers the same thing: [link removed] NordVPN, on the other hand, is probably the worst choice for a VPN. https://www.techradar.com/news/nordvpn-will-now-comply-with-law-enforcement-data-requests https://www.techradar.com/news/nordvpn-will-now-comply-with-...
- eddof13 4y agoI was looking into that because it sparked my concern, but I also think they make good points here in response to that article: https://nordvpn.com/blog/how-nordvpn-protects-the-privacy-of-its-customers/ https://nordvpn.com/blog/how-nordvpn-protects-the-privacy-of...
- ThePowerOfFuet 4y agoThe fact that they even have logs to produce is my point.
- Dylan16807 4y ago> [link removed] That just makes your comment look silly.
- ThePowerOfFuet 4y agoSilly or otherwise, I didn't want to aid in their marketing efforts.
- Hamuko 4y ago>Upcoming countries: GB, DE, NO, FI, AU, NL, CA, CH, FR, ES, DK Wait, Finland doesn't have a localised Amazon. We have to buy everything from other countries (usually Germany). How does this work?
- henriks 4y agoSome items on amazon.de state "cannot be shipped to your country"; might be that it's simply that?
- account-5 4y agoDo they sell these in stores for cash? That would be the best anonymous way to do it.
- hnarn 4y agoIf there’s a demand for it they can just get it off Amazon and mark it up.
- robinkek 4y agoYou can buy them in some tech stores around Sweden. Don't know about the rest of the world.
- skyeto 4y agoAt least Webhallen in Sweden sells them in physical stores around the country. Not sure about other places though. Weirdly enough it's also cheaper to buy a 12m card there (500SEK instead of the usual 600SEK). Checked, and they're listed as a reseller on Mullvad's page so they must've gotten a good deal / are selling at a loss.
- kibwen 4y agoHeck, if you live in a city with a techie population, then buy a bunch of cards, throw them in a bucket, then sell them for a 1% markup, in cash, at any tech meetup you attend. Buy more cards periodically and toss them into the bucket for people to pull at random, so there's no plausible correlation between time of issuance and time of use. This also covers your own tracks as well, if you ever need a VPN.
- drexlspivey 4y agoOr, you know, don’t do all that and just pay with crypto
- newfonewhodis 4y agoI just switched over from PIA to Mullvad like last month or so. Really surprised that Mullvad asked for literally no information from me - no username, password, email etc. I'm setting reminders on my calendar to remember to add more time to my account, but other than that, VPNs shouldn't have more info than that. More on topic: Doesn't say on the page, but does the card ever expire?
- aeyes 4y agoDo these VPN services actually work on consumer websites? They conveniently list their providers here [1]. For an online shop we operate, we have blocked most of these ASNs because 99% of the traffic we saw from them was malicious. [1] https://mullvad.net/en/servers/ https://mullvad.net/en/servers/
- OneLeggedCat 4y agoIn the case of Mullvad, my experience is that something like 5% of websites get pissy about it, and I have to turn it off, or Tor, or whatever else to get around it.
- stjohnswarts 4y ago95% of the time, sure. You will hit some companies that will ID it as VPN and refuse though. I just don't do business there and send them an email to update their security policy and I'll try again at some future date. I even have a template email that I keep just for that purpose.
- aeyes 4y agoIf I received such an email I wouldn't do anything about it. 99.9% of the traffic we see from M247 is malicious and there is no chance that I would unblock this ASN on an online shop.
- stjohnswarts 4y agoAnd that's fine! That's the beauty of the freedom of choice. I can take my business elsewhere and the company that banned the mullvad IP can have one less potential (but not really a) hacker to worry about.
- zo1 4y agoMalicious how?
- nabaraz 4y agoNo, Netflix, Hulu all fail for me.
- gamekathu 4y agoIf you are like me who subscribes to Jim Browning’s channel you know this technology would eventually be misused by scammers. Does Mullvad has any plans to counter it?
- tadfisher 4y agoThe technology is the same as any other gift card (cash-like instrument identified by code that can be transferred over the internet or phone). Scammers also use regular bank transfers, wire transfers, cryptocurrencies, and payment services like Zelle and Venmo. Gift cards are convenient because they're cash-like, but they don't enable scams.
- notsound 4y agoATM, it doesn’t seem like mullvad is selling these in stores. If a scammer wants a quick payout with less chance to get found out, they will get the gift cards from a physical store.
- helios_invictus 4y agoXerobank did something like 10 years go. Just handed out cards with random User/Pass combos, and said have at it!
- stjohnswarts 4y agoMullvad is getting so successful, I'm getting a bit worried about security/honeypot/buyouts status :( and I just bought a full year subscription.
- nabaraz 4y agoHas anyone managed to get this setup at their router level? I am planning to go nomad, and I am trying to see if I can use USA VPN while I'm in Brazil. My employer doesn't allow working from non-US IPs.
- tomxor 4y agoI would not recommend doing that, you will need to be able to selectively turn it off or change it sometimes... VPN blocking is unfortunately becoming more common among popular services. I have to disable or at least switch servers quite often to access popular services. Also if you are new to the game, make sure you use wiregaurd, it leaves the large complex VPN protocols of old in the dust. It adds almost no latency to my connection, sometimes speeds things up.
- nabaraz 4y agoThanks. I am still figuring out how all of this works. I have work VPN but I want to use USA VPN too.
- tomxor 4y agoYou've probably heard about them a lot on HN but i'd recommend Mullvad, they are also big on wiregaurd, lots of servers, lots of countries, well known for privacy focus... i don't even use their app, just download the wiregaurd configs and use wg-quick to bring them up from the cli, been using them for few years now I think.
- drexlspivey 4y agoThat’s why you create 2 wifis each one on it’s own VLAN, one with VPN on and one off. You can then switch wifi to get off VPN
- icelancer 4y agoI'd use "kill switch" software on your PC instead, which kills your access to the Internet if the VPN goes down. This way, if you accidentally disconnect from the VPN, your Internet also dies, and it's limited to your computer alone. This is what I do - I can't use router-based VPN or piHole type stuff because people on my network work on ad-related products or use sites that don't play well with VPNs or DNS-block lists of advertisers, for example. Of course, you can terminate the VPN software manually and the kill switch and access sites using no VPN if you want, which allows for mistakes, but pretty rare in my experience. Best is to simply have another machine that doesn't have VPN software on it and you use over the naked Internet.
- GekkePrutser 4y agoNot here on Amazon Spain yet :( Hopefully soon! It says "upcoming"...
- m000 4y agoAmazon as a k-anonymity provider.
- rufusroflpunch 4y agoLove Mullvad. Wish they would hurry up on Lightning Network integration.
- hsshah 4y agoBeen using Mullvad for over 6 months now. Really like it. I wish they offer a way to whitelist streaming apps on iphone or atleast make a widget to make it easy to turn VPN on and off.
- vineyardmike 4y agoYou can use the standard WireGuard iPhone app and a WG config. Should be a bit easier to turn off and on.
- hsshah 4y agoah.. Does WireGuard app have a widget or shortcut support?
- powellzer 4y agoI think a lot of people here are missing the point that you can buy these and give them to friends and family members that might otherwise never try a VPN. It’s a great usability and marketing move.
- silverpepsi 4y agoit's like gifting my parents an acid kit to help burn off their fingerprints sure it'll make for the perfect mother's day, I'm sure me mum can't wait to try it (???) I mean, I guess I just can't comprehend buying it for someone else
- wintermutestwin 4y agoWTF? Because using a VPN is essentially trying to be shady? But the rampant data thieves aren't the shady ones? Would you want to protect mum from a peeping tom?
- xd1936 4y ago...butwhy.gif This would be a weird gift to give.
- Etheryte 4y agoPrivacy. Privacy is Mullvad's whole central thesis. When you use a credit card to sign up, they're legally required to keep tabs on you. If you buy a gift card off Amazon and use that to pay for your VPN, Mullvad will have no idea who you are and can't give much information on you even when forced by a court.
- hobabaObama 4y agoBut wouldnt it be possible to connect to gift card and then ask Amazon about it?
- bearmode 4y agoAmazon won't have a clue what the code you got was. Only you do. They'll know you bought a code, but won't have any way to connect your purchase to a VPN user. You might not even be redeeming the code yourself.
- PurpleRamen 4y agoThe code must be scratched free first, so I assume Amazon doesn't know the code, and thus can't link it to a specific account. And I assume Mullvad themselves are not linking the code to an account either, but just checks validity and then charges up the account by the value. There are probably indirect ways to force a linking, but they are probably also highly illegal. And people could also just exchange gift-cards or use more indirect ways to buy the cards, to dilute those data further. So overall this is a rather useful solution, as long as more than a handful people will buy them through amazon.
- haswell 4y ago> The code must be scratched free first, so I assume Amazon doesn't know the code This is the part I’m not following. Unless Amazon takes specific steps to intentionally not track the code (and this doesn’t sound very Amazon-like) , why would we assume Amazon doesn’t know the code? The scratch off protection is to prevent shoppers from seeing the code in stores, and to provide assurance that the card hasn’t been used yet (“used” as in the number is now in someone’s possession). Edit: I misinterpreted the nature of these cards and commented prematurely.
- nibbleshifter 4y agoWhen will I be able to buy a Mullvad from IKEA?
- wyldfire 4y agoMüllväd is actually the name of the Swedish meatballs with the integrated recliner. Hot new item for 2022 so they're backordered. EDIT - apparently this hit a sensitive topic, sorry to offend IKEA or Mullvad fans
- cinntaile 4y agoThe ü doesn't exist in the Swedish alphabet.
- andrewflnr 4y agoYes, I'm sure it was the Swedish alphabet purists who downvoted.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ezekg 4y ago
- rtpg 4y agoWhile I generally believe it to be possible, I am very curious about how Mullvad is storing its payment records to avoid time-based correlations. For gift cards it's more async, but given that payment processors keep records that can be correlated, if Mullvad isn't careful about timestamping, how it records crediting to accounts, or the like, it would be extremely easy to de-anonymize account relations IMO.
- elliekelly 4y agoYes, I definitely think that would be possible. Mullvad clearly lays out what information is stored and for how long depending on the payment method you use[1] and there are clearly trade-offs. If you want the most "anonymous" account possible it's going to take a few days while you wait for an envelope of cash to get to them. For other users it might not be a big deal to use a faster payment method. The important thing is disclosure so users can make their own assessments about their personal risks/rewards. [1]https://mullvad.net/en/help/no-logging-data-policy/ https://mullvad.net/en/help/no-logging-data-policy/
- rtpg 4y agoIt's kinda funny that cash is mentioned because at least according to rules I see posted by the Japan post, you can't send over 100 Krone (~$15) via mail into Sweden from abroad. I suppose if you're in the EU you might be able to get away with it but it is indeed tough. The main thing that I think is missing in Mullvad's FAQ is about if they have backups of their data. If they do, then differential analysis is possible. Perhaps they only keep backups of past 14 days or something. There are couple of risks involved using this service: - adversary identifies that a Mullvad user is doing something, and activity started around X. They might be able to figure out what account number is associated to that. - adversary identifies that Mullvad user X is doing something. Through payment records and differential analysis (along with other information from banks or the like) they could identify who user X is (modulo credit card theft and the like of course). Given that Mullvad had accounts with payment processors and those processors have record keeping requirements, it feels like the second threat is very practically doable without very smart handling of backups. But it does seem like handling the first threat is done relatively well. The one risk is that someone starts doing something risky right as they sign up to the account. Mullvad states 500k accounts. over 10 years that's 136 people/day. You're still looking at a pretty wide net if you can isolate payments from a certain time period.
- ezekg 4y agoI still have a little over a year left on my NordVPN subscription (bought 3 years for $80 awhile back), but as soon as that's over I'll be switching to Mullvad. I prefer their stance on privacy, and I like the private payment options.
- zahma 4y agoThat’s how they get you. You’d better anticipate a lot of emails offering you deals to re-up for another few years. I pulled the plug on Nord years ago and haven’t looked back. Steady the course my friend.
- koheripbal 4y agoNordVPN speed is also absolute garbage.
- stjohnswarts 4y agonah just get the first one and reply unsubscribe in the subject and body, you'll be fine.
- WithinReason 4y agoMullvad will cost 180€ for the same period
- ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago[flagged]
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- GameOfFrowns 4y agoI love Mullvad, but I fear that they will become a victim of their own success. The more prominent the service becomes, the bigger priority it will have for intelligence agencies, despotes and ad companies to undermine/hack/subpoena it.
- LeoPanthera 4y agoYou are being downvoted but this is exactly my fear. They're almost too good, they're now the obvious best choice for a public VPN service and therefore an obvious target for the TLAs.
- dboreham 4y agoAssuming they weren't founded by said agencies.
- rightbyte 4y agoYou need to chain vpn:s and hope you hit different ones, as said agencies hate eachother.
- wing-_-nuts 4y agoYou shouldn't use a vpn to protect you from 3-letter agencies. Assume they already have the access they need regardless. You should be using this to protect you from private companies hoovering up your data, for that, a vpn is essential.
- gzer0 4y agoI have been (and still am) a long term supporter and subscriber of Mullvad services. I don't forsee that changing. One concern though, is the blanket blockade of their IP addresses accross multiple services; I'm not talking about the avalanche of captcha's one must deal with, but for example: I wasn't even able to update a fresh install of ubuntu via sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade... it refused to connect to mullvad IPs. I've been running into this problem more and more, first it was linux distro issues, then, my gaming client, and perhaps the worst, Github itself. I'm not sure what the solution is here, since Mullvad provides unparalleled respect of privacy; but the IP's they use are almost always associated with the highest levels of fraud. Perhaps, this is the price I am willing to pay for privacy done right. Props to Mullvad, for being the best in that regard.
- marginalia_nu 4y agoThis is arguably one of the big problems with the Internet today. On the one hand, browser automation is extremely effective and nearly indistinguishable from human traffic, and bot traffic often eclipses that of human visitors, depending on what you're serving, consuming an enormous amount of resources. On the other hand, using IP-reputation to decide who gets a captcha is one of the few methods that undeniably works. It's really unfair and I wish it didn't have to be that way, but at least for my websites, I can't serve traffic to human visitors if I don't discriminate against these IP blocks with captchas and whatever. I just don't have the hardware. The bot traffic I get is something like 50x that of sitting at #1 on the HN front page.
- humanistbot 4y ago> On the other hand, using IP-reputation to decide who gets a captcha is one of the few methods that undeniably works For a particular definition of "works." Giving everyone a captcha would also "work", but with different tradeoffs.
- marginalia_nu 4y agoWell of course, shutting down the server works too, I mean works in the context of reducing false positives while very effectively blocking most bots.