Ever since Westminster pushed the new Online Safety Act through Parliament many people in the United Kingdom have started searching for a virtual private network that will not betray their privacy. After days of reading audits blog posts and source code I keep coming back to one answer and that answer is Mullvad.
Payments and sign up
Mullvad lets you pay completely off grid. You can slip a ten pound note euros or dollars into an envelope and post it to Sweden or you can send Monero for a fully digital option. There is no need to hand over an email name or phone number. The moment the payment lands the site returns a random sixteen digit account number and that single number is all you ever show to the service. No other mainstream provider makes it this simple.
Public audits that anyone can read
Independent researchers pull the apps apart almost every year. The desktop client and the Android client were audited in December 2024 and March 2025. The reports found only minor issues and Mullvad patched them before the documents were published. The audit PDFs sit on the web for anyone to download which means you can verify every claim instead of trusting a marketing page.
Extra privacy tools
The Mullvad Browser was built together with the Tor Project. It aims for the same anti fingerprinting profile as Tor Browser while running faster because it skips the multi node Tor circuit. If you prefer to stay inside Firefox you can install the free Mullvad Browser Extension. The extension checks for IP and DNS leaks and offers a quick proxy toggle that routes only the current tab through the tunnel.
Hardening under the hood
In 2023 Mullvad finished moving every server to run from memory only. When each server reboots the contents vanish which means seizing a machine gives nothing of value. The default protocol is WireGuard which provides both speed and modern cryptography. You can chain two locations for multi hop routing and you can enable the built in ad and tracker blocking. Connection logs are not written in the first place so there is nothing to reveal.
Straight pricing and open source code
The cost is five euro per month for every user and it has stayed at that level for years. No flash sale gimmicks and no upsell for add ons. The apps and many internal tools are published on GitHub under free software licences so you can compile them yourself.
Why it matters right now for people in England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland
The new law expands surveillance and data retention. If you decide a virtual private network is necessary pick the one that treats privacy as a fundamental right instead of a marketing slogan. Generate a number pay with the method you like and disappear from your internet service provider logbooks. That is Mullvad.
