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Years ago, I had the idea to create a clear-net version of Tor, e.g. Tor Browser without the Tor network (was called Aegis Digital, I believe The Epoch Times in

Years ago, I had the idea to create a clear-net version of Tor, e.g. Tor Browser without the Tor network (was called Aegis Digital, I believe The Epoch Times interviewed me about it). Separate to Waterfox, the idea would be ramp up the privacy to the max. The problem is, when you did that, many websites would break in the most bizarre of ways. Even now, it still breaks a lot of the web. Couple that with a well known VPN and large swathes of the web are going to be difficult to access. I'm sure this may go down well with the privacy crowd, but for the general user it was and still is a hard pill to swallow. I wound down any attempts, figuring a balance of privacy and usability would be better and if I were to offer this, why not just point users to use Tor instead? I figure this is a good opportunity for Mullvad to capture its VPN users and shift them onto a platform they control. Not necessarily a good or bad thing, as I know VPN providers try to launch their own browsers and even some browser vendors launching their own VPN to capture the maximum value out of their users.

wing-_-nuts 3y ago
I use mullvad's vpn and I know very well what you're talking about. Social media websites will shadowban you without any TOS violating actions on your part. Certain financial sites will straight up refuse to work, and the worst of all are the sites that use only certain js libs hosted on cdns that straight up refuse to serve anyone on a vpn. That leaves you with a site that looks like it's responding, but is in fact broken. I feel like the very act of trying to opt out of the web's surveillance is enough to mark you as a second class citizen on the web. You either submit, and let your isp and google resell your most sensitive secrets, or you're effectively shunned. Regarding tor, it's a great idea tarnished by the fact that it's used for vile illegal activity. There's no way I would ever run a tor exit node. The risk of some 3 letter agency taking all my hardware for a few months while they figure out I'm not the guy they're looking for is too damned high.
WeylandYutani 3y ago
Yes I wonder how many people actually use Mulvad as their daily driver. Hell I'm using completely unmodified Edge for banking and government agencies because even something as simple as ublock cosmetic filters manages to break them.

wing-_-nuts 3y ago

I use mullvad's vpn and I know very well what you're talking about. Social media websites will shadowban you without any TOS violating actions on your part. Certain financial sites will straight up refuse to work, and the worst of all are the sites that use only certain js libs hosted on cdns that straight up refuse to serve anyone on a vpn. That leaves you with a site that looks like it's responding, but is in fact broken. I feel like the very act of trying to opt out of the web's surveillance is enough to mark you as a second class citizen on the web. You either submit, and let your isp and google resell your most sensitive secrets, or you're effectively shunned. Regarding tor, it's a great idea tarnished by the fact that it's used for vile illegal activity. There's no way I would ever run a tor exit node. The risk of some 3 letter agency taking all my hardware for a few months while they figure out I'm not the guy they're looking for is too damned high.

WeylandYutani 3y ago

Yes I wonder how many people actually use Mulvad as their daily driver. Hell I'm using completely unmodified Edge for banking and government agencies because even something as simple as ublock cosmetic filters manages to break them.