Notices by Mullvad VPN (mullvadnet@mastodon.online)

Chat Control 1 is back. By a margin of 314-276, the EU Parliament voted to reject the legislation. However, since it was an urgent procedure, an absolute majority of 361 votes was required. As a result, the majority lost and Chat Control 1 passed. The urgent procedure was a dirty tactic by the Council and parts of the Parliament – it’s a procedure not meant to be used for legislation already rejected by the Parliament.

@rysiek

Mullvad is a political company fighting for free speech, free information and privacy, with two equal co-founders, co-owners and co-CEOs who fundamentally disagree on many issues. Daniel's donation to a political party is private and not part of Mullvad's mission. We protect the right to express and access views we disagree with. We welcome anyone sharing these core values, whatever their other opinions. We are happy to refund others who don't, where we can.

@lostgen

Mullvad is a political company fighting for free speech, free information and privacy, with two equal co-founders, co-owners and co-CEOs who fundamentally disagree on many issues. Daniel's donation to a political party is private and not part of Mullvad's mission. We protect the right to express and access views we disagree with. We welcome anyone sharing these core values, whatever their other opinions. We are happy to refund others who don't, where we can.

@astro @lostgen

Mullvad is a political company fighting for free speech, free information and privacy, with two equal co-founders, co-owners and co-CEOs who fundamentally disagree on many issues. Daniel's donation to a political party is private and not part of Mullvad's mission. We protect the right to express and access views we disagree with. We welcome anyone sharing these core values, whatever their other opinions. We are happy to refund others who don't, where we can.

Piccadilly Circus, London.
Keir Starmer now demands state spyware on every mobile device, always watching the screen, scanning everything, looking for things the government disapproves of.

Whistleblowers, activists, and journalists depend on anonymous VPN services. Requiring identity verification for VPN services would put them at risk. It would also have a chilling effect on online debate (VPNs can help people post anonymously on social media).

In authoritarian countries, VPN services are crucial forcriticizing the government. That is precisely why such governments seek to ban or restrict them. Hopefully, the UK will not join that list.

2/2

Some politicians in the UK think it is a good idea to introduce identity verification for using VPN services.

It could be that these politicians do not understand what they are proposing. The alternative, that they do understand, would be even worse.

1/2

So-called age verification for social media is spreading across the world, framed as an effort to create a safer internet for children. In reality, age verification lays the foundation for a fully controlled internet.

The age verification rush must be slowed down, and politicians need to recognize the consequences of different types of legislation and systems.

Read more on https://mullvad.net/blog/age-verification-for-social-media-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-a-free-internet

The EU age verification app is presented as “completely anonymous”. The idea is to use Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography.

But currently, the EU app does not have ZKP functionality. More importantly, the app is designed to always function without ZKP. Even if fully developed ZKP technology could be implemented in the future, it would remain an optional feature that countries may choose to disable and that the EU could remove at any time.

More details on https://mullvad.net/blog/age-verification-for-social-media-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-a-free-internet

It’s absurd that American authorities can purchase personal data – that they’re not allowed to gather themselves without a warrant – directly from data brokers. This violates the Fourth Amendment, and it’s time to close the data broker loophole.

Today, the Surveillance Accountability Act was introduced. It requires warrants based on probable cause for all government surveillance and data access.

You can read more about it here: https://www.surveillanceaccountability.com/

Chat Control 1 is dead. Let’s end Chat Control 2.

Members of The European Parliament: stand firm in your position – no mass surveillance whatsoever!

Looking to be a star on CCTV?

Mass surveillance and censorship are escalating in many countries right now. There is a global attack on secure encrypted communication. Often, authorities, politicians, and tech companies work together to push for new laws. One example: when Ashton Kutcher (yes, the actor), through his tech company Thorn, tried to introduce total surveillance of all EU citizens through undemocratic and corrupt methods.

Our WireGuard implementation, GotaTun was recently audited by Assured Security Consultants. Two identified low severity issues were fixed prior to the completion of the audit.

No major vulnerabilities were found.

Read more here: https://mullvad.net/blog/a-security-audit-of-gotatun-is-now-available

Amazing, this one is up. For now.

Today, the final negotiations on Chat Control 2.0 begin.

We hope the European Parliament stands firm against any wording that paves the way for mass surveillance and censorship. Cyprus, currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, aims to conclude the negotiations by June.

A reminder of the corrupt backstory behind the Chat Control proposal and the involvement of Ashton Kutcher and his company Thorn: https://mullvad.net/why-privacy-matters/going-dark

Today, we hit the streets with a major "And Then?" campaign in the UK, despite having faced strong opposition.

First, our TV ad "And Then?" was banned on British television.

And then, the outdoor ad campaign meant to criticise the TV ban was largely halted.

Here, you can watch the banned ads and explore the entire campaign.

https://mullvad.net/and-then/uk

God save the Mullvad ads. This one got banned too, by The City of London.

Mullvad was banned on British TV. And then? And then this underground ad got banned by the government body Transport For London.

The argument was clear: you cannot encourage people to engage with a banned TV commercial.

The United Kingdom is escalating its censorship and mass surveillance. When Mullvad tried to criticise this with the TV ad “And Then?”, it was banned on British television.

https://media.mullvad.net/andthen/30s/Mullvad_AND_THEN_30s_US_ProRes422_Webmix_4K.mov