this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026

193 points (99.0% liked)

Privacy

48255 readers

820 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 6 years ago

MODERATORS

193

And Then? Mullvad’s anti-surveillance TV ad blocked in the UK (cybernews.com)

submitted 2 months ago by schizoidman@lemmy.zip to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/59613920

Mullvad also pointed to other instances of alleged attempts to “escalate censorship and mass surveillance” in the UK, citing efforts to force Apple to install backdoors in its end-to-end encrypted cloud service, proposals that could introduce “client-side scanning and government spyware on all UK phones”, and government plans to fast-track legislation requiring identity verification for VPN use.

all 25 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 26 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I hope it gets streisanded.
Here's the backstory.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

well made

[–] hector@lemmy.today 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That website broke my computer until I closed the window.

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Yeah, YouTube is shit

[–] hector@lemmy.today 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wasn't youtube but the website of that organization. I had to hard restart closing the window didn't help long.

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like a hardware problem. I go on Mullvad's site all the time and I've never had that issue. The only issue I have that with is big tech sites.

[–] hector@lemmy.today 1 points 2 months ago

Huh, maybe I will try back later and see if it happens again, this is an exceedingly shitty computer admittedly, my better one the keyboard and touchpad stopped working and won't load the systems restore, idk what happened, it was unconnected to the internet for months but somehow crapped out with no trauma to it.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Nothing RSS and -dlp can't fix...

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

I just use FreeTube, but that works too!

[–] hector@lemmy.today 16 points 2 months ago

Once again illustrating our leaders and their appointees across the west but especially in the UK and US, think the republic(s) are already dead in all but name, and acquiescing to the demands of the oligarchy over their duty as agents of the state they work for.

This seems like a good issue to attack hard, to organize people around, and force the guy who made this call out of his position, as it's a corrupt repudiation of the freedoms of the country and spites their long held freedoms of freedom of expression and dissent.

While they need all new leadership, this isn't a bad place to start, as these attempts to surrender their citizenry to tech need to be stopped by any means.

[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 13 points 2 months ago

No and then.

[–] RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago

That's messed up.

[+] Auli@lemmy.ca -14 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Good it should be as what VPNs claim they do is fucking stupid. And if people are dumb enough to think that blocking their IP protects them from tracking then they I don't know let them spend money on a VPN. I mean tracking IPs hasn't been reliable in a long time.

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

VPNs arent a magic bullet like the tech illiterate think, but they are a useful tool like any other and paired with proper digital hygiene go a long way to limit the ability to monitor your activity across the web.

[–] THE_World_Wide_Web@lemmy.org 2 points 2 months ago

Yeah, I'm not understanding the VPN hate here. It's one tool that when combined with others gains you more privacy.

[–] techpeakedin1991@lemmy.ml -5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Instead of your ISP seeing every site you go to, a different company sees every site you go to.

VPNs have their uses, but avoiding surveillance is not one of those uses.

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago

I guess if you don't see any difference between a government supported telecom company and a company that exists in different nation that has a necessarily hostile relationship to the local government, then sure they are comparable.

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I trust my VPN more than I trust my ISP. My VPN is beholden to the fascist Krasnov regime. My VPN is not.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My VPN is beholden to the

I think you meant ISP here

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

You're right, thank you.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

exactly as you say, a different company that we can actually choose, unlike our ISP, and which we can decide whether to trust. Mullvad have shown they can be trusted.

[–] utopiah@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

company that we can actually choose, unlike our ISP

Depends on locations but typically in urban areas (which is where most people live now, since the rural flight of the 20th) there are multiple ISPs to chose from. It's typically a long tail curve with 1 ISP that is a current or historical monopoly everybody knows who laid down the physical lines then multiple large ones and finally dozens of tiny ones that might include some local non-profit. Same goes for SIM operators. Most customers are just too lazy to bother picking anything but the most popular choices.

TL;DR: most people can actually chose their ISPs.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

Depends on locations but typically in urban areas (which is where most people live now, since the rural flight of the 20th) there are multiple ISPs to chose from.

we have multiple here but there's no competition in this regard. they are competing in speed, prices and also feelings by deceptive ads, but not in privacy. like, I wouldn't install the apps of any of them to my phone, because they are full of data mining code.

but there are also things they just couldn't avoid: law requires them to be keeping logs, and generally they have a stronger obligation for local laws, because the local government can threaten local businesses much more efficiently.

so, most of the cases you can choose from a few options, but regarding privacy.. not much variety. you can't even know before or even after subscribing to them, because how will you check.

VPNs are different because you can choose from thousands (though most are shit), and the claims of better ones will be proven by court.

another point, is that normally your traffic goes unencrypted through ISP equipment of whatever brands. cisco, huawei, ubiquiti, tplink, whatever. what's even worse, personally I wouldn't trust any that is cloud controlled through the manufacturer and there's many brands like that from the USA even.
the ISP bought equipment that they evaluated by whether does it work, not forensically. they probably also inherited a lot of it from another company. a lot of it doesn't receive security patches anymore, because they are old equipment that still work fine, but it doesn't matter because they don't even run the last released patches either.
all the while reputable VPN services are more careful about whos stuff they trust with providing their services.

Most customers are just too lazy to bother picking anything but the most popular choices.

thats right. and they don't even know what should they be looking out for. but honestly me neither, none of the ISPs seem to be good guys, because there's nothing in it for them.

TL;DR: most people can actually chose their ISPs.

most people can also choose a smartphone brand, they can also choose between facebook and twitter. it was not my point.

my point is that VPNs can actually give something more that local ISPs can't, and provide value that way.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 1 points 2 months ago

The ad does not claim anything about Mullvad's service. If you only made the effort to watch it…