VPN providers
Mullvad VPN privacy rating
Our pick
Flat-priced VPN from Sweden. Accounts are a random number with no email, and payment in cash or Monero is accepted.
Summary
Mullvad VPN scores 79 out of 100 (grade B) on the VPN providers criteria. It meets 8 of 12 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, TLS configuration, security headers, anonymous payment, open-source apps and modern protocols. It partly meets open source, transparency report and audited no-logs policy. It does not meet tells users about requests. It is based in Sweden: Fourteen Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade A+.
Score 79 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
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Partial
Open source Weight 3 of 3
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
All apps are open source under GPL-3.0. Server infrastructure is not fully published.
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Yes
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
The policy states no usage data is sent to external analytics. The Android app has no known trackers on Exodus.
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Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
One flat monthly price. No ads.
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Yes
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
Full public reports are published, including X41 D-Sec on account and payment services and Cure53 on the relay infrastructure.
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Partial
Transparency report Weight 2 of 3
Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds?
Explains which Swedish laws allow authorities to request data and what can be disclosed. No request counts are published.
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No
Tells users about requests Weight 1 of 3
Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it?
No published policy on notifying users about data requests.
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Partial
Audited no-logs policy Weight 3 of 3
Has an independent audit confirmed that activity and connection logs are not kept?
The relay audits that checked for logging are older than three years. The no-logging policy is published.
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Yes
Anonymous payment Weight 2 of 3
Can an account be created and paid for without an email address, name or card?
Accounts are a generated number. Cash, Monero and Bitcoin are accepted.
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Yes
Open-source apps Weight 2 of 3
Are the apps for every platform open source?
Apps for every platform are open source under GPL-3.0.
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Yes
Modern protocols Weight 1 of 3
Is WireGuard (or another modern audited protocol) supported?
WireGuard is the default protocol.
Automated tests
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Yes
TLS configuration Weight 2 of 3
Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better?
Grade A+
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Yes
Security headers Weight 1 of 3
Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better?
Grade A+ (135/100+)
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Not tested yet
Modern web standards Weight 1 of 3
Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test?
Not tested yet.