Apr 21, 2023 17:00:00

Privacy-oriented VPN service 'Mulvad VPN' reports that customer data was protected from police with search warrant

Mullvad VPN, a Swedish VPN service, announced on April 20, 2023 that it was investigated by police authorities, but the server was not seized and customer data was kept confidential.

Mullvad VPN was subject to a search warrant. Customer data not compromised - Blog | Mullvad VPN

https://mullvad.net/en/blog/2023/4/20/mullvad-vpn-was-subject-to-a-search-warrant-customer-data-not-compromised/

According to Mullvad VPN, on April 18, six staff members of the National Operations Department (NOA) of the Swedish police visited the office in Gothenburg with a search warrant. Officers aimed to seize equipment containing customer data.

However, Mullvad VPN stipulates in

its policy that it does not collect user data. As a result, Mullvad VPN insisted to the staff that ``there is no reason to expect to find what you are looking for, so seizing it would be a violation of Swedish law.''

As a result, the officers left the Mullvad VPN office without seizing anything, including customer information. Mullvad VPN says that even if law enforcement seized any equipment, they would not have been able to access customer information.

While VPNs are sometimes used for crimes due to their anonymity, they also have the aspect of security and technology that protects free speech on the Internet, so it is expected that user data will be strictly stored. . However, once you become the target of law enforcement investigation, you may not be able to protect your data and servers.

For example, in 2020 three VPN services that offered bulletproof hosting were seized by Europol.

VPN for cybercriminals is blocked at once by Europol's 'Operation Nova' - GIGAZINE

In January 2022, Europol forced the closure of VPNLab, a VPN service that was also popular with cybercriminals.

Unhappy New Year for cybercriminals as VPNLab.net goes offline | Europol
https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/unhappy-new-year-for-cybercriminals-vpnlabnet-goes-offline

Although not a VPN service, ProtonMail, a privacy-focused email service, has been accused of disclosing users' IP addresses at the request of the Swiss police.

The topic that the privacy-oriented mail service ``ProtonMail'' disclosed the user's IP address to the authorities was criticized as hype-GIGAZINE

According to Mullvad VPN, it is the first time in the 14 years since the VPN service began operating that it has been visited by a law enforcement officer with a search warrant.