cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/52731585
I was reading around about private browsers and I came across mullvad’s browser (only know them for the VPN), do you have experience using it? does it do anything different? I currently use librewolf and from what I can see the mullvad browser also is build from firefox. I generally prefer firefox-like browsers to chromium since i like way its set up and what it allows me to do. Its supposedly build by the same guys who made the tor browser (tbh i feel like thats just marketing). From their website it says its tor without tor but instead with a VPN. So technically I can accomplish the same thing with librewolf and a VPN?? Does the mullvad browser do anything new/different? One thing they do mention is browser fingerprinting does it do anything special to combat that? if i switch to mullvad instead but still have the same extensions is it more private?
As far as I know, no it isn’t.
My recommendation is that if you want better browser privacy than Librewolf, look into Pale Moon or GNU IceCat which are independently maintained older forks of Firefox (and thus untouched by the plague that is Mozilla). Use uMatrix and JShelter. You can also read these articles on browser privacy. Although many of these articles haven’t been updated in a while, most are still relevant.
It literally is? LibreWolf and other such “privacy browsers” only work to fool naive scripts, while Mullvad Browser works to completely mix you in with the crowd.
CreepJS has removed its Visits feature (Visits would show how many browsers with the exact same fingerprint had accessed the site) for some unknown reason so I can’t really post a screenshot, but at least while I was using it around a year ago when it did have that my Mullvad Browser tests would always come up with the Visits value in the thousands, and LibreWolf only with 1.
Mullvad Browser by itself isn’t foolproof though as you also need a VPN (preferably one that is usually coupled with Mullvad Browser) to actually mix in. Your IP could still theoretically be revealed this way by a state-level actor though, and if you’re engaging in illegal activity (doesn’t need to be drugs or anything, political activism is also illegal in many places) just use TailsOS with a WebTunnel bridge at that point, and preferably set Tor Browser’s security level to “Safest” (you have to do this everytime you restart if you’re using TailsOS).
Some tips for Tor enjoyers: Pin NoScript to the browser toolbar so you can bypass the security level restrictions when you need to (not recommended for most cases, use at your own discretion). And if you’re having issues with the assigned IP address, you can request new Tor circuits via the sandwich menu on the top right.