Mullvad VPN does not store any user data; therefore, the Swedish police could not access any user data during the raid.
Swedish VPN company, Mullvad, has recently reported that on April 18 2023, Swedish police came to their Gothenburg office with a search warrant to confiscate computers with the personal data of VPN service clients.
However, Mullvad employees informed the police that they do not store any data of their customers, and confiscating computers would be considered a violation of Swedish law. The police officers left the Mullvad VPN’s office after consulting with the prosecutor, and no further details have been provided.
In a press release, Mullvad VPN said,
On April 18 at least six police officers from the National Operations Department (NOA) of the Swedish Police visited the Mullvad VPN office in Gothenburg with a search warrant. They intended to seize computers with customer data.
In line with our policies such customer data did not exist. We argued they had no reason to expect to find what they were looking for and any seizures would therefore be illegal under Swedish law. After demonstrating that this is indeed how our service works and them consulting the prosecutor they left without taking anything and without any customer information.
The police’s search may have been part of an investigation into hackers who often use VPN services to hide their cybercrimes. Mullvad is a paid VPN service that is known for its strict customer privacy policy and does not require user registration upon connection.
In other news, earlier in April 2023, Mullvad VPN and the Tor Project joined forces to launch the Mullvad Browser, a privacy-focused web browser aimed at providing users with a secure browsing experience and minimizing tracking and fingerprinting.
Additionally, Mullvad received recognition from the product review site Wirecutter, which named the company as the best VPN service in March in terms of security and data privacy.
However, last week, Mullvad VPN services experienced interruptions in Russia, with the mobile applications mostly affected. The company’s technical support team has stated that some Mullvad services are still operational, and users can still connect to them. Mullvad has not yet released a statement regarding the Russian service interruption.
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