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EDIT: Also, without this leak, Android API "VPNs" can actually distinguish traffic of individual apps, acting as a firewall that blocks untrusted apps from sending your data somewhere else. With a DNS leak, they can exfiltrate data through it.
Advertisers learned how to use much better data points a long time ago due to AOL proxies much like the Mobile proxies a significant amount of mobile providers use today.
> Depending on your threat model this might mean that you should avoid using Android altogether for anything sensitive, or employ other mitigations to prevent the leaks. We aim to partially mitigate these problems in our app, so make sure to keep the app up-to-date.
I don't think companies should give false hopes to people, and that is what is exactly happening here (e.g., "fixing a DNS leak will make you private and that's the only reason you're not!").
In the article, they warn that "DNS leaks may have serious privacy implications for users".
Looking at their marketing homepage, they say "Using a VPN alone is not enough to achieve perfect privacy. There’s simply too much data being extracted through most browsers."
They also have this expansive analysis of the major threats to internet privacy: https://mullvad.net/en/why-privacy-matters/how-mass-surveill...
It would be nice if they could address this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Sweden#:~:text=In%....
It also seems like there's some misunderstanding about what the internet is in general here or a really bad misrepresentation ("you're not on the internet because your packet traveled over wavelength" wtf):
https://mullvad.net/en/blog/2020/1/24/no-tears-lets-get-carr...
They have. Several times actually. You should browse their literature more thoroughly. Mullvad is not an internet service provider.
"[...] we, as a VPN service provider are not regarded as an electronic communications network nor an electronic communications service."
"[...] This means authorities cannot use LEK nor IHL to request information from Mullvad."
"Since Mullvad VPN by law is not required to collect any data related to our users’ activities online [...]"
https://mullvad.net/en/blog/update-the-swedish-authorities-a...
More thoroughly, see:
haha
This is not said or implied anywhere in Mullvad literature. In fact, they say the opposite.
"A VPN isn’t the entire solution for privacy. Here’s the kind of monitoring it can’t protect you against."
This statement clearly implies this is the reason that Android is currently not safe.
I don't see the clear implication, and I don't see the point of going into a deep dive on all the risks in every press release.
- You don't want your ISP to see your traffic, but don't care if the VPN provider does
- You can get pseudonymous VPN service (pay with crypto), but not pseudonymous ISP, and you want pseudonymity
- You live under a repressive regime that censors internet access and want to get out (digitally)
- ? More?
-You prefer the privacy or consumer policies of another jurisdiction (e.g. EU, Switzerland)
- You want to avoid or flout copyright or anti-pornography policies
- You want to evade or avoid IP-based limitations, such as only downloading 1 file per IP per 12 hours.
It can be anonymous with some cryptocurrencies (Monero, Bitcoin Cash with CashFusion, etc.)
Anonymous would be like: minute-by-minute you drip Monero into the VPN in exchange for service. It could track you by your IP, but nothing else, and you can change your IP.