I'm sorry to hear that. For what it's worth our marketing colleagues make a big effort to minimize the risk of such interpretations. Sometimes a really snappy string of words can be interpreted multiple ways. There's also only so many words we can put on an ad before it gets messy. We do try hard to make the nuances clear on our website, which ultimately is where any new users will have to go in order to buy the service.
It certainly wasn’t the most egregious VPN ad I’ve ever seen, but it was disappointing to see Mullvad imply privacy properties for VPNs knowing that ordinary people don’t understand cookies, sessions, fingerprinting, or JavaScript.
In any case we make the most important nuances clear on our landing page, and in other places on our website.
That copy should’ve never made it past basic checks for legitimacy.
Or alternatively: feel free to describe to HN how Mulvad protects users against ad networks.
To claim that you stop online ad networks is a downright falsehood and you know it.
A VPN is not enough for privacy. But in combination with a privacy-focused browser, you make sure to block third-party cookies and other tracking technologies used by the data collectors.
That's why we partnered with the Tor Project to develop Mullvad Browser – a browser designed to minimize tracking and fingerprints.
Please also note that this information is clearly displayed on our landing page. We don't want people using our service for things it's not designed for.
The browser piece is doing almost all of the work against ad networks, isn’t it?
Which part of defense against ad networks does a VPN contribute to?
Where do they claim their VPN stops online ad networks?
https://mullvad.net/en/blog/aiding-to-break-habits-gambling-...
https://mullvad.net/en/blog/how-were-knocking-down-ads-and-t...
It's not going to prevent everything, but it'll definitely help.
Some of the ads also felt deceptive making it seem like it will prevent all your online tracking, even though we know that’s not the case.