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And Then? Mullvad’s anti-surveillance TV ad blocked in the UK (cybernews.com)

submitted 2 days ago by schizoidman@lemmy.zip to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/59613920

Mullvad also pointed to other instances of alleged attempts to “escalate censorship and mass surveillance” in the UK, citing efforts to force Apple to install backdoors in its end-to-end encrypted cloud service, proposals that could introduce “client-side scanning and government spyware on all UK phones”, and government plans to fast-track legislation requiring identity verification for VPN use.

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[-] hector@lemmy.today 20 points 1 day ago

Once again illustrating our leaders and their appointees across the west but especially in the UK and US, think the republic(s) are already dead in all but name, and acquiescing to the demands of the oligarchy over their duty as agents of the state they work for.

This seems like a good issue to attack hard, to organize people around, and force the guy who made this call out of his position, as it's a corrupt repudiation of the freedoms of the country and spites their long held freedoms of freedom of expression and dissent.

While they need all new leadership, this isn't a bad place to start, as these attempts to surrender their citizenry to tech need to be stopped by any means.

[-] 0x0@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I hope it gets streisanded.
Here's the backstory.

[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

well made

[-] hector@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

That website broke my computer until I closed the window.

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, YouTube is shit

[-] 0x0@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

Nothing RSS and -dlp can't fix...

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

I just use FreeTube, but that works too!

[-] hector@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

Wasn't youtube but the website of that organization. I had to hard restart closing the window didn't help long.

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

Sounds like a hardware problem. I go on Mullvad's site all the time and I've never had that issue. The only issue I have that with is big tech sites.

[-] hector@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

Huh, maybe I will try back later and see if it happens again, this is an exceedingly shitty computer admittedly, my better one the keyboard and touchpad stopped working and won't load the systems restore, idk what happened, it was unconnected to the internet for months but somehow crapped out with no trauma to it.

[-] RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago

That's messed up.

[-] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 15 points 2 days ago

No and then.

[-] artyom@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago

NO AND THEN

[+] Auli@lemmy.ca -18 points 1 day ago

Good it should be as what VPNs claim they do is fucking stupid. And if people are dumb enough to think that blocking their IP protects them from tracking then they I don't know let them spend money on a VPN. I mean tracking IPs hasn't been reliable in a long time.

[-] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 4 points 1 day ago

The ad does not claim anything about Mullvad's service. If you only made the effort to watch it…

[-] dendrite_soup@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

The 'VPNs don't protect you' take is technically correct but misses the actual story here. The UK ASA didn't ban a VPN because it doesn't work — they banned an ad for a legal privacy product because the ad criticized surveillance. That's a different thing entirely.

The precedent being set isn't about VPN efficacy. It's about whether a company can run advertising that frames government surveillance as something consumers should be concerned about. The UK has been pushing mandatory VPN identity verification, client-side scanning proposals, and Apple backdoor demands. Banning an ad that says 'and then?' about that trajectory is regulatory pressure on the message, not the product.

Whether VPNs are a magic bullet is a separate conversation.

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

VPNs arent a magic bullet like the tech illiterate think, but they are a useful tool like any other and paired with proper digital hygiene go a long way to limit the ability to monitor your activity across the web.

[-] THE_World_Wide_Web@lemmy.org 4 points 1 day ago

Yeah, I'm not understanding the VPN hate here. It's one tool that when combined with others gains you more privacy.

[+] techpeakedin1991@lemmy.ml -6 points 1 day ago

Instead of your ISP seeing every site you go to, a different company sees every site you go to.

VPNs have their uses, but avoiding surveillance is not one of those uses.

[-] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

I guess if you don't see any difference between a government supported telecom company and a company that exists in different nation that has a necessarily hostile relationship to the local government, then sure they are comparable.

[-] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

exactly as you say, a different company that we can actually choose, unlike our ISP, and which we can decide whether to trust. Mullvad have shown they can be trusted.

[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

company that we can actually choose, unlike our ISP

Depends on locations but typically in urban areas (which is where most people live now, since the rural flight of the 20th) there are multiple ISPs to chose from. It's typically a long tail curve with 1 ISP that is a current or historical monopoly everybody knows who laid down the physical lines then multiple large ones and finally dozens of tiny ones that might include some local non-profit. Same goes for SIM operators. Most customers are just too lazy to bother picking anything but the most popular choices.

TL;DR: most people can actually chose their ISPs.

[-] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 15 hours ago

Depends on locations but typically in urban areas (which is where most people live now, since the rural flight of the 20th) there are multiple ISPs to chose from.

we have multiple here but there's no competition in this regard. they are competing in speed, prices and also feelings by deceptive ads, but not in privacy. like, I wouldn't install the apps of any of them to my phone, because they are full of data mining code.

but there are also things they just couldn't avoid: law requires them to be keeping logs, and generally they have a stronger obligation for local laws, because the local government can threaten local businesses much more efficiently.

so, most of the cases you can choose from a few options, but regarding privacy.. not much variety. you can't even know before or even after subscribing to them, because how will you check.

VPNs are different because you can choose from thousands (though most are shit), and the claims of better ones will be proven by court.

another point, is that normally your traffic goes unencrypted through ISP equipment of whatever brands. cisco, huawei, ubiquiti, tplink, whatever. what's even worse, personally I wouldn't trust any that is cloud controlled through the manufacturer and there's many brands like that from the USA even.
the ISP bought equipment that they evaluated by whether does it work, not forensically. they probably also inherited a lot of it from another company. a lot of it doesn't receive security patches anymore, because they are old equipment that still work fine, but it doesn't matter because they don't even run the last released patches either.
all the while reputable VPN services are more careful about whos stuff they trust with providing their services.

Most customers are just too lazy to bother picking anything but the most popular choices.

thats right. and they don't even know what should they be looking out for. but honestly me neither, none of the ISPs seem to be good guys, because there's nothing in it for them.

TL;DR: most people can actually chose their ISPs.

most people can also choose a smartphone brand, they can also choose between facebook and twitter. it was not my point.

my point is that VPNs can actually give something more that local ISPs can't, and provide value that way.

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

I trust my VPN more than I trust my ISP. My ISP is beholden to the fascist Krasnov regime. My VPN is not.

[-] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

My VPN is beholden to the

I think you meant ISP here

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago

You're right, thank you.

this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026

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