My sense is that there's a lot of BS going on. Including the fact that "cool" VPNs are supposed to be coming from Scandinavian countries (but most of them aren't).
Mullvad states they're based on Sweden -- are you claiming they aren't? They list where all there servers are located and who owns them, if that's your concern.
They seems to have extensive information about why you'd want to use a VPN or not. They don't log customer data and moved to a RAM-only infra. They're cheap with one flat rate.
So what exactly would you call BS? What would you like to see them do different?
I don't understand what you are implying. Neither why are they supposed to, nor why it isn't true. To be fair, the only "strong privacy", etc VPN I know that is not Scandinavian is ProtonVPN. Is there something else?
I occasionally run this just to make sure, especially when using an unfamiliar service:
curl ipinfo.ioThe implementation will be super simple. Set up your local IP address or IP address range (if you are on a dynamic IP address connection). Consistently call 'ipinfo.io/ip' every 5 seconds to check if the IP address is changing from your home IP address. You will get an alert if the IP address changes. So, when you turn on your VPN, this notification should alert you that your IP address has changed.
I would recommend using the 'ipinfo.io/ip' with a public IP address-based implementation as you can get a virtually infinite amount of queries. With just an 'ipinfo.io' query which gets you the location information as well, you get 1,000 queries without a token. This could work if you reduce the API call rate to a higher interval (not at a second level but only at a minute-level interval). But you do get the location information, which validates the VPN's location information.
And of course prefer that they are in a jurisdiction that isn't a haven for shady companies.
In short: I like them because there is little bullshit and they seem to be OK. I don't think I could ever trust PIA or all of those companies.
I never said I was against their AFK advertising. The EU chat control advertisement was great. The NYC stuff is pretty meh. Advertisement is was on my brain. I mostly treat it like that.
I just find it weird that there seems to be so many companies spending a seemi gly infinite amount on affiliate advertisement (through bought reviews) and on influencer ads.