4 ms·

> service provider may claim to not store any user data, but they could be lying. As someone who ran a VPN in the past, this blog post is extremely strange as

> service provider may claim to not store any user data, but they could be lying. As someone who ran a VPN in the past, this blog post is extremely strange as well as the purported described sequence of events. Police in any jurisdiction aren’t jokes - especially not Sweden where they can absolutely walk in and take your stuff according to mullvads website [1]. It’s 2023 - if a VPN is how you’re doing your privacy you’re probably doing it wrong. Don’t trust. Verify. [1] https://mullvad.net/en/help/swedish-legislation/ https://mullvad.net/en/help/swedish-legislation/

gerbilly 4y ago
> It’s 2023 - if a VPN is how you’re doing your privacy you’re probably doing it wrong. I'm honestly interested, how could one 'do privacy' the right way then?
- Izkata 4y ago
  I'm guessing they're thinking of VPN as OpenVPN, and are referring to WireGuard...? Mullvad also provides configurations for that.
grvgr 4y ago
[dead]
- RonMarken 4y ago
  Have further information on potential malice by Private Internet Access or employees?
  - grvgr 4y ago
    There are some links on my profile if you're curious. Bonus: 1. Mark Karpeles has nothing to do with PIA: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21821832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21821832 2. Kape is a shit show: https://old.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/11ejk7c/has_pia_been_abandoned/jaimhxb/ https://old.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/11ej... 3. Jonathan Roudier has nothing to do with WeVPN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35561337 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35561337 much more to come...
    - dannyw 4y ago
      These are pretty serious allegations, and as the ex-CIO of PIA, you certainly have the credibility to make them. However, drip-feeding various circumstantial links do not really help your case, and HN comments is not the best medium to make them. I'd suggest creating a website or page, and writing out your allegations in detail and instead linking that here.
commoner 4y ago
I'm satisfied with the transparency Mullvad has shown by publishing its 9 audits[1] and with their efforts to ask for as little information from users as possible. I also appreciate how Mullvad releases up-to-date source code for all of its software clients, which I consider a bare minimum for any VPN to even be considered.[2] Private Internet Access, on the other hand, does not release up-to-date source code for its software clients: - PIA Android client: latest source release v3.14.0 (Mar 18, 2022) vs. latest Google Play release v3.18.0 (Feb 22, 2023)[3] - PIA iOS client: latest source release v3.14.0 (Mar 18, 2022) vs. latest App Store release v3.20.0 (Mar 1, 2023)[4] - PIA desktop client: latest source release v3.3.0 (Feb 23, 2022) / v3.4.1-beta1 (Aug 18, 2022) vs. latest downloadable release v3.3.1 (unknown)[5] - PIA browser extension: latest source release v3.1.0 (May 31, 2021) vs. latest Chrome Web Store release v3.2.0 (March 8, 2022)[6] It's not clear to me how much of a say you still have in PIA's operations, but if you have any influence, I kindly ask you to direct them to release the source code of PIA's clients on time, every time a new client version is released. Open sourcing PIA's clients was something you promised PIA would do to reassure customers after PIA was acquired by the former adware/malware distributor Kape Technologies.[7] --- [1] Mullvad's audits: https://mullvad.net/en/blog/tag/audits/ https://mullvad.net/en/blog/tag/audits/ [2] Mullvad's GitHub repos: https://github.com/mullvad https://github.com/mullvad [3] PIA Android client - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/android/tags https://github.com/pia-foss/android/tags / Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateinternetaccess.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateint... [4] PIA iOS client - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/vpn-ios/tags https://github.com/pia-foss/vpn-ios/tags / App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vpn-by-private-internet-access/id955626407 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vpn-by-private-internet-access... [5] PIA desktop client - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/desktop/releases https://github.com/pia-foss/desktop/releases / PIA website: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/download/linux-vpn https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/download/linux-vpn [6] PIA Chrome extension - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/extension-chrome/releases https://github.com/pia-foss/extension-chrome/releases / Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/private-internet-access/jplnlifepflhkbkgonidnobkakhmpnmh https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/private-internet-a... [7] Our conversation in 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21613267 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21613267 (I appreciated your response at the time)

gerbilly 4y ago

> It’s 2023 - if a VPN is how you’re doing your privacy you’re probably doing it wrong. I'm honestly interested, how could one 'do privacy' the right way then?

Izkata 4y ago
I'm guessing they're thinking of VPN as OpenVPN, and are referring to WireGuard...? Mullvad also provides configurations for that.

grvgr 4y ago

[dead]

RonMarken 4y ago
Have further information on potential malice by Private Internet Access or employees?
- grvgr 4y ago
  There are some links on my profile if you're curious. Bonus: 1. Mark Karpeles has nothing to do with PIA: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21821832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21821832 2. Kape is a shit show: https://old.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/11ejk7c/has_pia_been_abandoned/jaimhxb/ https://old.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/11ej... 3. Jonathan Roudier has nothing to do with WeVPN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35561337 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35561337 much more to come...
  - dannyw 4y ago
    These are pretty serious allegations, and as the ex-CIO of PIA, you certainly have the credibility to make them. However, drip-feeding various circumstantial links do not really help your case, and HN comments is not the best medium to make them. I'd suggest creating a website or page, and writing out your allegations in detail and instead linking that here.

commoner 4y ago

I'm satisfied with the transparency Mullvad has shown by publishing its 9 audits[1] and with their efforts to ask for as little information from users as possible. I also appreciate how Mullvad releases up-to-date source code for all of its software clients, which I consider a bare minimum for any VPN to even be considered.[2] Private Internet Access, on the other hand, does not release up-to-date source code for its software clients: - PIA Android client: latest source release v3.14.0 (Mar 18, 2022) vs. latest Google Play release v3.18.0 (Feb 22, 2023)[3] - PIA iOS client: latest source release v3.14.0 (Mar 18, 2022) vs. latest App Store release v3.20.0 (Mar 1, 2023)[4] - PIA desktop client: latest source release v3.3.0 (Feb 23, 2022) / v3.4.1-beta1 (Aug 18, 2022) vs. latest downloadable release v3.3.1 (unknown)[5] - PIA browser extension: latest source release v3.1.0 (May 31, 2021) vs. latest Chrome Web Store release v3.2.0 (March 8, 2022)[6] It's not clear to me how much of a say you still have in PIA's operations, but if you have any influence, I kindly ask you to direct them to release the source code of PIA's clients on time, every time a new client version is released. Open sourcing PIA's clients was something you promised PIA would do to reassure customers after PIA was acquired by the former adware/malware distributor Kape Technologies.[7] --- [1] Mullvad's audits: https://mullvad.net/en/blog/tag/audits/ https://mullvad.net/en/blog/tag/audits/ [2] Mullvad's GitHub repos: https://github.com/mullvad https://github.com/mullvad [3] PIA Android client - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/android/tags https://github.com/pia-foss/android/tags / Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateinternetaccess.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateint... [4] PIA iOS client - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/vpn-ios/tags https://github.com/pia-foss/vpn-ios/tags / App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vpn-by-private-internet-access/id955626407 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vpn-by-private-internet-access... [5] PIA desktop client - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/desktop/releases https://github.com/pia-foss/desktop/releases / PIA website: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/download/linux-vpn https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/download/linux-vpn [6] PIA Chrome extension - GitHub: https://github.com/pia-foss/extension-chrome/releases https://github.com/pia-foss/extension-chrome/releases / Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/private-internet-access/jplnlifepflhkbkgonidnobkakhmpnmh https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/private-internet-a... [7] Our conversation in 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21613267 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21613267 (I appreciated your response at the time)