Mullvad Browser is a version of Tor Browser with Tor network integrations removed. It provides Tor Browser’s anti-fingerprinting browser technologies to VPN users. Tor Project is developing the browser themselves, and Mullvad is handling distribution. Using Mullvad Browser does not require the use of Mullvad’s VPN.
Like Tor Browser, Mullvad Browser prevents fingerprinting by making your browser fingerprint identical to all other Mullvad Browser users. It includes default settings and extensions that are automatically configured by the default security levels: Standard, Safer and Safest. Therefore, it is imperative that you do not modify the browser at all outside adjusting the default security levels. Other modifications would make your fingerprint unique, defeating the purpose of using this browser. If you want to configure your browser more heavily and fingerprinting is not a concern for you, we recommend Firefox instead.
For the strongest anti-fingerprinting protection, we recommend using Mullvad Browser in conjunction with a VPN, whether that is Mullvad or another recommended VPN provider. When using a VPN with Mullvad Browser, you will share a fingerprint and a pool of IP addresses with many other users, giving you a “crowd” to blend in with. This strategy is the only way to thwart advanced tracking scripts, and is the same anti-fingerprinting technique used by Tor Browser.
Any VPN provider can be used with Mullvad Browser. Other people on that VPN must also be using Mullvad Browser for the greatest privacy protection, something which is more likely on Mullvad VPN compared to other providers, particularly this close to the launch of Mullvad Browser.
Mullvad Browser operates in permanent private browsing mode, meaning your history, cookies, and other site data will always be cleared every time the browser is closed. Your bookmarks, browser settings, and extension settings will still be preserved.
This is required to prevent advanced forms of tracking, but does come at the cost of convenience and some Firefox features, such as Multi-Account Containers. Remember you can always use multiple browsers, for example, you could consider using Arkenfox for a few sites that you want to stay logged in on or otherwise don’t work properly in Mullvad Browser, and Mullvad Browser for general browsing.
Mullvad Leta is a search engine which requires an active Mullvad VPN subscription to access. Mullvad Leta queries Google’s paid search API directly (which is why it is limited to paying subscribers), however because of this limitation it is possible for Mullvad to correlate search queries and Mullvad VPN accounts. For this reason we discourage the use of Mullvad Leta, even though Mullvad collects very little information about their VPN subscribers.
Without using a VPN, Mullvad Browser provides the same protections against naive fingerprinting scripts as other private browsers like Firefox+Arkenfox or Brave. Mullvad Browser provides these protections out of the box, at the expense of some flexibility and convenience that other private browsers can provide. With a VPN, Mullvad Browser can provide protection against advanced tracking scripts which Librewolf, Arkenfox, or Brave cannot.
Mullvad Browser does not have built-in VPN connectivity, nor does it check whether you are using a VPN before browsing; your VPN connection has to be configured and managed separately.
Mullvad Browser comes with the uBlock Origin, NoScript, and Mullvad browser extensions pre-installed.
You should not remove uBlock Origin or NoScript from Mullvad Browser, or configure them outside of their default configuration. Doing so would noticeably make your browser fingerprint distinct from other Mullvad Browser users. The Mullvad browser extension can be safely removed without impacting your browser fingerprint. You should be cautious about adding additional extensions, as they may impact your browser fingerprint.
