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kennedy @lemmy.dbzer0.com

is it worth it to swicth to mullvad browser for better privacy?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/52731585

I was reading around about private browsers and I came across mullvad's browser (only know them for the VPN), do you have experience using it? does it do anything different? I currently use librewolf and from what I can see the mullvad browser also is build from firefox. I generally prefer firefox-like browsers to chromium since i like way its set up and what it allows me to do. Its supposedly build by the same guys who made the tor browser (tbh i feel like thats just marketing). From their website it says its tor without tor but instead with a VPN. So technically I can accomplish the same thing with librewolf and a VPN?? Does the mullvad browser do anything new/different? One thing they do mention is browser fingerprinting does it do anything special to combat that? if i switch to mullvad instead but still have the same extensions is it more private?

Comments

14

  • Librewolf

  • I normally use Mullvad and a hardend Librewolf.

    Mullvad seems funtionally the same as the tor browser. I believe the idea with the tor brower was that they would be difficult to distinguish for one person from the next. And same goes for Mullvad. The only differince being that Mullvad does't naturally go through the tor netwok, doesn't onionize sites, and uses mullvad's own search engin and DNS server by default. (Mullard's brower exists so that you have a tor browser without the tor network; And that's different topic of conversation)

    Librewolf is closer the firefox experince, and I would happily recommend it to everyone. I personally enabled the sync funtion, switch the default search to ecosia, and hardend up some other settings. I haven't felt the need to add any plugins yet( that wern't installed by default).

    In my tests, both have shown to be exellent privacy browsers. But as such, they both also stick out like a sore thumbs.

    Overall, if you want the most privet browser, Mullvad seems hide more of my identity and fignerprint. But you will will look very suspicious.

    I still recommend Librewolf over Mullvad, does everything I want and need it to do

  • The last time I did a comparison, it was much better about fingerprinting. The EFF has this test for example:

    https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/

    Personally I don't use it as my daily default browser, and I feel that I'd have to change the default privacy-focussed settings in order to do so. Rather I keep it installed/updated for if I need it someday

  • In my opinion it does offer the best in class for anti-fingerprint features out of the box. Personally I don't use it because I need browser addons. Adding addons to mullvad kinda defeats the purpose, as they will make your browser extremely unique. Librewolf + addons is more fingerprintable, but still less so than Mullvad + addons imo. I feel like it is useful to have both; Librewolf + addons for your daily driver, and vanilla Mullvad for extra anonymous browsing, web searches, etc.

    As a side note too, I have also heard that using Mullvad browser + Mullvad VPN is a bad idea, because it gives Mullvad as a company more information points that might potentially deanonymize you. Part of the reason why Mullvad is so great is that when an entity subpoenas your info, Mullvad can say "we don't know anything sorry." So the more information points you give, the more that defense weakens, even though Mullvad itself is trustworthy

  • I've heard nothing but good things about Mullvad. I currently use Librewolf and love it, but if I had to switch, Mullvad might be my #2 choice.

  • As far as I know, no it isn't.
    My recommendation is that if you want better browser privacy than Librewolf, look into Pale Moon or GNU IceCat which are independently maintained older forks of Firefox (and thus untouched by the plague that is Mozilla). Use uMatrix and JShelter. You can also read these articles on browser privacy. Although many of these articles haven't been updated in a while, most are still relevant.

    • It literally is? LibreWolf and other such "privacy browsers" only work to fool naive scripts, while Mullvad Browser works to completely mix you in with the crowd.

      CreepJS has removed its Visits feature (Visits would show how many browsers with the exact same fingerprint had accessed the site) for some unknown reason so I can't really post a screenshot, but at least while I was using it around a year ago when it did have that my Mullvad Browser tests would always come up with the Visits value in the thousands, and LibreWolf only with 1.

      Mullvad Browser by itself isn't foolproof though as you also need a VPN (preferably one that is usually coupled with Mullvad Browser) to actually mix in. Your IP could still theoretically be revealed this way by a state-level actor though, and if you're engaging in illegal activity (doesn't need to be drugs or anything, political activism is also illegal in many places) just use TailsOS with a WebTunnel bridge at that point, and preferably set Tor Browser's security level to "Safest" (you have to do this everytime you restart if you're using TailsOS).

      Some tips for Tor enjoyers: Pin NoScript to the browser toolbar so you can bypass the security level restrictions when you need to (not recommended for most cases, use at your own discretion). And if you're having issues with the assigned IP address, you can request new Tor circuits via the sandwich menu on the top right.

  • I may be the odd duck here with all the librewolf suggestions, but I am fond of waterfox, just configure it / harden it along similar lines as librewolf, force DoH, force HTTPS, have some kind of anti fingerprinting/profiling solution, yada yada.

    Uh then what I do is just run I2P and use a silly little 'assign a proxy to a tab type' addon, and now that is my 'private mode' that runs in its own window.

    (i ended up with this because i wanted to be able to run and manage i2pd, specifically, also as a distinct thing, and i could not figure out how to do this with any of the existing i2pd -fox land addons... maybe i am just stupid, i dunno lol)

    Ultimately, what I would suggest is to just test various configurations of various security oriented browsers in the eff cover your tracks thingie, and find a balance or use style that works for you, balancing functionality and security/privacy.

    Like, do actually test things, don't just run with what someone says should work, not even me.

    For me, what works is my weird little --just use one browser and have a 'mostly secure' default mode, and a 'more secure' private mode--...

    ... but maybe you'd get better mileage out of just two totally different browsers, one 'secure-ish' and one 'more secure'... or maybe theres some other way of switching between other levels of JS blocking / ad blocking / general security thresholds via other kinds of mode shifts or something?

14 Comments