Swedish Police Fail to Seize Mullvad VPN Computers

Last week, police officials showed up at the offices of Swedish VPN provider Mullvad. The company revealed in a blog post that they had left empty-handed.

According to the article, six members of the Swedish Police’s National Operations Department (NOA) wanted to seize Mullvad’s devices, which they believed to contain customer data.

Nothing to seize

Mullvad assured the officers that, per its policies, it doesn’t store personal user info. Therefore, any seizure would be against Swedish law.

As a result, the police left without taking anything.

The company has a minimal data retention policy as it aims to help its customers browse the internet anonymously.

It’s one of the few providers that uses numbered accounts. When you buy a subscription, the VPN generates a random account number for you to use. This means it never asks for personal information like username, password, or email address.

These recent events show that, true to its no-log policy, Mullvad stores very little data outside of that account number.

Browse the web anonymously

Whether VPN companies collect and store customer data is one of the biggest issues for the industry. Many providers swear they don’t do it, but users often don’t believe their identity is entirely safe.

With 81% of people in the US not feeling in control of their data online, questioning VPN services is natural.

Many top VPNs put a lot of effort into ensuring their customers that they don’t collect and store data. For example, Surfshark recently had Deloitte perform tests on its no-logs policy. The audit showed that its operations are in accordance with what the company promises.

Mullvad’s run-in with the law is a good example of how if you want to remain anonymous online, opting for a leading VPN is a must. Many providers say they offer the same level of privacy for free, but that’s usually not the case.