As others have pointed out, this is like Apple iCloud Private Relay, and other multi-hop privacy systems that have been built on and off over the last several decades (Tor included).

We wrote a research paper on the general principle a few years ago: https://conferences.sigcomm.org/hotnets/2022/papers/hotnets2...

I don't understand the point of this.

Many (if not all) of the benefits on the landing page are available in Mullvad too, which is a more mature and reputable product, has all clients fully open-source, and powers the exit servers for Obscura.

Why should I choose this over Mullvad?

There is also a catch: Mullvad is a Swedish company, which has stricter privacy protection laws in place.

According to Obscura's legal page, it is a New York-based company [0]. Under US law, a company can be issued a gag order forcing them to log activity on a specific account, which ultimately defeats their core privacy promise.

[0]: "(2) your written notification must be mailed to 169 Madison Ave.; Ste. 11185 PMB 63183; New York, NY 10016..." https://obscura.com/legal/

I wouldn't be so sure; Ex A: The terrifying expansion of Sweden’s state surveillance, https://edri.org/our-work/the-terrifying-expansion-of-sweden...

i am very skeptical of most vpn companies, and while i haven't looked too hard at obscura, it is worth noting the official partnership with mullvad (https://mullvad.net/en/blog/mullvad-partnered-with-obscura-v...) which is certainly a positive signal

side note: i really wish more companies did the no email + randomized account number flow. there is a certain popular "pro-privacy" product beloved by many here that requires an email address and refuses to offer a similar account number method, which has turned me off the product.

> there is a certain popular "pro-privacy" product beloved by many here

Please don’t speak in riddles. Just say what you mean.

for what purpose? there is nothing to be gained from pointing fingers, and takes the discussion in an even more unrelated direction.

although i guess people's curiosity is also dragging my comment in an unrelated direction anyways. lose-lose situation.

my main point is that the account number method is really nice, and a great selling point for such privacy-conscious products.

> ... a certain popular "pro-privacy" product beloved by many here ...

If you're talking about Proton VPN, they do support "credential-less accounts" through their official apps, I believe? At least, on Android since 2024: https://www.androidpolice.com/proton-vpn-works-without-accou...

i am hesitant to really narrow it down, but it is not proton (i am a very early proton user)

privacy <> anonymity

Proton VPN ensures privacy.

Privacy without anonymity is just privacy with a backdoor waiting to be unlocked.

i am not talking about proton.

So two hops, basically. First hop sees your IP address but not the website you're going to, second hop sees website but not IP address. Similar to Private Relay: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102602.

So like OHTTP but for UDP traffic? I suppose they are using MASQUE CONNECT-UDP?

They are careful to not exactly claim the same anonymity properties of Tor, though I think a lay reader will read that differently (ie, that they do have the same anonymity property as Tor).

That said being able to verify the inner wireguard conn to mullvad is nice. Of course you have to trust them that they aren't colluding with mullvad to share your identity/ip. But same goes for OHTTP.

This sounds pretty neat, and I do dig the website, though I can’t help but think it’s an odd combination to have bitmap/pixelated fonts and graphics inside perfect squircles.

Seems like you guys have two distinct ideas of a visual identity completely at odds there. Shape contrast is nice and can be rather fun to play with, but it has to be handled with care. Right now it feels like the designer had a bunch of ideas and didn’t know how to bring them together in a cohesive identity.

Bonus point for the TRON reference at the end! “I fight for the users!”

Your traffic is still unencrypted by the VPN provider at the other end of the Wireguard connection, I am not sure how this changes that?

How does this prove Obscura and Mullvad can't just both gather tracking data and then just combine it on demand?

and how is it better than just connecting to mullvad over nordvpn or something?

If you're already a Tailscale user, seems like this solution is nearly identical to using Mullvad as an exit node.

You would go with this solution if you don't trust Tailscale or NordVPN, I guess.

I love the website, messaging and idea. Well done. if you guys need a place to host, please consider controlplane.com

Basically a middle-man for a Mullvad VPN, where if Mullvad decides to pull out of their agreement with this company, you lose your connection and are hopefully refunded.

The single point of failure for this product is Mullvad and its leadership's changing opinions.

Obscura itself is also a point of failure

I don't like 'us vs others' kinda comparisons, it's just marketing trick, which means they care more about sales than your privacy.

Secondly, Mullvad did what Obscura does now years ago.

Furthermore who needs a gamified VPN tool?

> first

Really? XD