Mullvad VPN Hit With Search Warrant in Attempted Police Raid
However, Swedish law enforcement left with nothing after learning Mullvad VPN has a strict no-logging policy when it comes to customer information.
(Credit: Mullvad VPN)
"The risk of law enforcement raiding a VPN provider to try and obtain customer data nearly became real this week for Mullvad VPN.
The company today reported that Swedish police had issued a search warrant two days earlier to investigate Mullvad VPN's office in Gothenburg, Sweden. “They intended to seize computers with customer data,” Mullvad said.
However, Swedish police left empty-handed. It looks like Mullvad’s own lawyers stepped in and pointed out that the company maintains a strict no-logging policy on customer data. This means the VPN service will abstain from collecting a subscriber’s IP address, web traffic, and connection timestamps, in an effort to protect user privacy. (It’s also why Mullvad VPN is among our most highly ranked VPN services.)
. . ." READ MORE
Cops Raid Swedish VPN Provider Only To Find Out There’s No ‘There’ There
from the oh-no-the-things-aren't-even-there dept
"There are few things I enjoy writing about more than cops who feel waving around a piece of paper will ensure they can get what they want. I’ve handled a few of these stories before, most of them centered on Signal, the little messaging service that could — one that does not collect user data and would rather exit the marketplace than subject itself to encryption-breaking government mandates.
So, it always gives me pleasure to learn that cops armed with court orders approached a privacy oriented tech company only to find out the stuff they wanted didn’t actually exist at the place they searched. Due diligence is a thing, investigators. Your boilerplate is obviously false if you’ve claimed (based on “training and expertise“) that the place you want to search contains the information you wish to obtain.
> That’s the case here. A Swedish VPN provider was raided by local law enforcement, but was unable to produce any of the information officers were searching for… something officers might have realized prior to the search if they’d bothered to read the terms of service. Here’s Michael Kan with the details for PC World:
The company today reported that Swedish police had issued a search warrant two days earlier to investigate Mullvad VPN’s office in Gothenburg, Sweden. “They intended to seize computers with customer data,” Mullvad said.
However, Swedish police left empty-handed. It looks like Mullvad’s own lawyers stepped in and pointed out that the company maintains a strict no-logging policy on customer data. This means the VPN service will abstain from collecting a subscriber’s IP address, web traffic, and connection timestamps, in an effort to protect user privacy. (It’s also why Mullvad VPN is among our most highly ranked VPN services.)
> If the cops had run a search of Mullvad’s website before running a physical search of its offices, it might have discovered the stuff they swore would be found there actually wouldn’t be found on Mullvad’s premises.
It’s not like it’s that difficult to find:
There is a law to collect user data in India and other countries. Does this affect Mullvad?
Mullvad does not collect user data. Mullvad is based in Sweden and none of the Swedish regulations (https://mullvad.net/help/swedish-legislation/) can force VPN providers to secretly collect traffic-related data. We also have no servers, infrastructure or staff in India.
In other words, bring all the law you want, but in the end:
Raid if you want. But you can’t have what providers like Mullvad are unwilling to collect. In the end, you’ve done nothing more than make some noise and embarrass yourself. It’s all there in the Mullvad FAQ, including the fact that Mullvad performs no logging of user activity. If your investigation leads you to providers like Mullvad, it’s a dead end. Look elsewhere.
This policy isn’t in place because Mullvad wants to protect criminals. It’s in place because people all over the world deserve protection from government overreach. That criminals may benefit from policies like these doesn’t make these policies bad, it just makes it more difficult for abusive governments to engage in third-party-enabled surveillance.
And the long history here shows Mullvad isn’t a home for criminals. It’s just an extremely well-run VPN provider:
“Mullvad has been operating our VPN service for over 14 years. This is the first time our offices have been visited with a search warrant,” the company added.
You know who is in the best position to stop local law enforcement officers from embarrassing themselves? LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. Maybe read the ToS and FAQ at the site you’re planning to raid before you approach a court with a bunch of assumptions and half-truths to secure a fruitless warrant demanding companies turn over information they don’t retain. Doing otherwise means looking bad at your job (at best) and authoritarian (at worst). If cops want to regain the respect and trust they swear they’ve always enjoyed in the past, the first thing they can do is actually do the investigative parts of investigations. That way they won’t look ridiculous when they go marching out of a tech company’s offices with fuck all in their hands.
Filed Under: logs, privace, sweden, vpn, warrant
Companies: mullvad
- Vermont's Supreme Court: Obtaining Real Time Cell Site Location Data Requires A Warrant
- FBI Latest To Admit To Bypassing Warrant Requirements By Purchasing Location Info From Data Brokers
- Court: Riley's 'Get A Warrant' Cell Phone Search Requirement Means Get A *Good* Warrant
- So Much For The 4th: Ring Allows Cops To Acquire Recordings Of Non-Suspect's Home And Business
- Letting Autocrats Win: Sweden's Prime Minister Apologizes For Anti-Erdogan Protests
No comments:
Post a Comment