Both the Tor Network and virtual private networks encrypt your web traffic and tunnel it through an intermediary, but Tor is focused on the anonymity that comes from a specific scheme of sending your traffic through a series of “hops” or special servers. VPNs, in contrast, don’t take such great pains to anonymize your traffic and instead focus on offering privacy protections by creating a system in which only you and the VPN provider can see your web activity. As a result, VPNs have a complicated reputation, because they are only as private as the VPN provider is trustworthy. Depending on your use case and circumstances, though, they can be a valuable tool.
“Mullvad’s mission is to make mass surveillance impractical, and a VPN alone is not enough for achieving online privacy—you also need a privacy-focused web browser,” says Mullvad CEO Jan Jonsson. “We wanted to offer a privacy-focused browser as good as the Tor Browser but for those who want to connect to the internet through a VPN instead of the Tor Network. The collaboration is all about providing more privacy alternatives for people.”
The Tor Project and Mullvad both said of each other that they were attracted to the collaboration by the other’s record on human rights and digital privacy initiatives. And Mullvad has been a longtime financial supporter of the Tor Project, which is a nonprofit.
There are other well-regarded privacy browsers, like Brave, and they can also be used with a VPN or even have built-in VPN capabilities. But the Tor Project says that their years of experience pioneering antitracking techniques like cookie isolation and other anti-surveillance technologies means that Mullvad Browser is launching at a very high quality. Tor Project’s Fernandez adds that, while developing Mullvad Browser, the team made some discoveries and improvements that have now been incorporated back into the Tor Browser.
“Maybe this new browser will reach an audience that we’re not reaching right now,” Fernandez says. “Multiple alternatives can coexist and support each other. We’re into building alternatives in collaboration, in solidarity with other organizations, because this is a big fight. We’re going against big players, so we need to work together.”
Update 12:20 pm ET, April 3: We’ve updated the piece to reflect Isabela Fernandez’s current surname.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest For News Update Click Here
