Staying, switching, or refunding: options Mullvad Browser and VPN users have after the recent controversy

Mullvad users have found themselves asking a question they probably never expected to. Do you keep using the company’s products, cancel your subscription, or walk away entirely?

The discussion didn’t begin because of a security breach or a flaw in Mullvad Browser or Mullvad VPN. Instead, it stems from reports that Mullvad co-founder Daniel Berntsson personally donated 5 million Swedish kronor (roughly $525,000) to the Swedish populist Örebro Party. The donation was first reported by Swedish newspaper Flamman and quickly spread through privacy communities, with many users questioning whether they wanted to continue supporting the company.

Mullvad responded the following day with a lengthy statement on X. The company described itself as “a political company” in the sense that it advocates for freedom of speech, freedom of information, and the right to privacy. It argued that Berntsson’s donation was a private political act, not something that reflected Mullvad’s values or mission.

“It should be obvious that Daniel’s private donation to a political party is not part of Mullvad’s values or mission,” the company wrote, adding that people working with Mullvad, whether as employees, contractors, or customers, are welcome regardless of their political views as long as they share those core principles.

CEO Fredrik Strömberg also mentioned something similar to reporters earlier (via TechRadar). While making it clear that the donation was Berntsson’s personal decision, he also said, “I don’t like that he made this donation.”

That response has satisfied some users, but of course, it hasn’t satisfied everyone.

If you’re trying to decide what to do with your own Mullvad subscription, it’s worth separating the controversy from the products themselves. There hasn’t been any indication that Mullvad Browser or Mullvad VPN has become technically less secure because of these events. No vulnerability has been disclosed, there are no reports of customer data being compromised, and the company’s privacy policies and infrastructure remain unchanged.

Mullvad Browser also continues to be developed alongside the Tor Project. If you like the browser but no longer want to pay for Mullvad VPN, there’s nothing stopping you from using the browser with another VPN provider, or even on its own, depending on your needs.

That said, rather than pointing customers who want to cancel their ties with the company to its existing refund policy, Mullvad addressed the issue directly in its X statement.

“If you no longer want to be a Mullvad customer for philosophical reasons, we think it’s important to honor that, and will gladly refund you,” the company said.

That offer is unusual because it acknowledges that some users aren’t leaving over the software itself. They’re leaving because they no longer feel comfortable supporting the company.

Others have reached the opposite conclusion. Their view is that a founder’s personal political donation shouldn’t be treated as a reflection of the products or the people building them today.

If you’ve already decided to move elsewhere, Proton VPN and IVPN are the two services that have come up most often in community discussions. They take different approaches, though. Proton has grown into a broader privacy platform with email, cloud storage and other services, while IVPN has stayed focused on being a VPN. Users whose priority is anonymous browsing rather than a VPN may simply choose to use Tor Browser instead, which recently also picked up a security update that we covered here.

The discussion surrounding Mullvad is unlikely to disappear overnight, but for now it remains a question of trust rather than technology. Whether you stay, switch or request a refund depends less on what has changed inside Mullvad’s software, and more on how you feel about the company behind it.

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