VPN services offer an excellent way to improve privacy while online. To be precise, good VPN services do, while bad ones either leak your data or sell it outright.
Mullvad is considered to be one of the best when it comes to online privacy. The Sweden-based provider gets audited by third-parties regularly and offers several options to purchase access anonymously.
Mullvad announced this week that it has entered a partnership with Obscura VPN.
The core idea is simple: Obscura VPN uses Mullvad’s servers as exit nodes for its customers. This means, in essence, that the traffic of Obscura VPN customers flows through two independent systems.
In other words, neither Mullvad or Obscura have full control over the data. This may remind you of how Tor operates, or how some VPN services offer multi-hop connections.
The latter pushes the connection through two or more servers in different countries to improve privacy. The difference is that a single VPN provider is in control of all servers.
As for Tor, it uses a three-hop system and comes close to what Obscura offers. Tor is largely operated by volunteers, which means that it can be slow at times and that denial of service attacks happen regularly on top of that.
I published a guide about using multiple VPN services on a single system. It involves virtual systems, which allow you to chain-link as many VPN connections as you like.
Privacy by design, says Obscura
Obscura claims that the system that it uses never sees a user’s browsing history while using the VPN. Here is how Obscura explains it on its website:
- Obscura uses Mullvad for exit hops. This means that it does not know which websites users access.
- Mullvad operates the exit hops, but it does not know the customer. Obscura says that it is masking a user’s real IP address when traffic is relayed to the exit server.
Obscura is available for $6 per month as a starting offer. The regular price is $8 per month according to the website. Users can pay via Credit Card or Bitcoin over Lightning.
One downside right now is that there appears to be a client for macOS only.
Closing Words
The idea behind Obscura VPN is interesting. Combine two VPN services to increase security. The new company still has to prove itself and pass audits. The app code is open source, which is a good start. Support for additional platforms is a must.
What is your take on this? Do you use a VPN service? Would you use a service that offered Obscura’s system? Please leave a comment down below to let us know.
I just tried NordVPN, it was horrible.
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#1 The app circumvents the firewall giving apps you have blocked internet access. This is a massive security issue, I contacted you about this Martin.
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#2 20% of the time I could not connect, with the app or using openvpn.
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#3 66% of the app ui is advertising to buy more services and I had to disable all notifications, including connection notifications, to stop getting advertising notifications when using the app.
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#4 I did get a full refund but it was a decietful proccess aimed at talking you out of it.
NordVPN user I am.
#2 – I can always connect, NordLynx connections are super quick, however my preferred servers, my home town, are slow late afternoon to early evening, change server to somewhere else to get faster connection.
#3 – I don’t get any advertising, OK, I lied I get a “Refer and 3 months free” every few weeks in the Notifications but unless intentionally opens it I don’t see it. I don’t understand your observation, how you concluded the percentage of 66%.
#1 and #2 I haven’t tried thus not applicable for me.
I have only used 2 VPNs but NordVPN is fine for me, can’t say much as I have no ways of compare with others though.