Mullvad is just the first link in the chain of untrusted systems between you and whatever server you’re connecting to.
Also, what better place to tap traffic than the connection of a VPN provider.
Also, what better place to tap traffic than the connection of a VPN provider.
Well, per my previous post, my ISP is definitely a better place. Hell, you don't even need to tap them. They'll just sell you the data, along with other PII. (Setting aside Mullvad' multi-hop support, which would require taps in multiple jurisdictions).
I think the point you're trying to make is that this isn't resilient to the NSA monitoring my traffic. I had hoped it was clear from my message that there's another level of privacy I'm concerned with related to intrusive private entities. I'm not expecting the GDPR or similar privacy laws to stop the NSA either, but they serve a useful purpose.
I guess I'm banking on Meta and Google not tapping Mullvad. Or even the RIAA or MPAA, for that matter. Because my ISP will very willingly give those entities data. And as long as unencrypted SNI is the norm, my ISP knows more than I want it to know about my browsing behavior. Not to mention the stuff that isn't HTTPS. Sure, Verizon knows I've established a connection an encrypted tunnel and how much bandwidth I routed through it, but that's a level of metadata I'm not concerned with.
So, yeah, Mullvad could be logging every packet through their tunnel. They could even assemble a profile based on my account and sell it to all the data brokers and advertising networks. They still don't have my SSN. Even if all of that happened, then I'm still no worse a situation than if I didn't use them because my ISP is doing those things. At worst, I'll be out 5€ for the month.
Where would you like to move the goal posts now?
I think you answered your own question.
I can feel the sarcasm dripping from this sentence.