Tor Project clarifies continued technical collaboration with Mullvad
The Tor Project will maintain its technical partnership with Mullvad despite community concerns regarding political donations by a Mullvad co-founder.
Summary
Following community pressure regarding a Mullvad co-founder's political donations, the Tor Project has released a statement addressing its relationship with the company. While the Project is pausing proactive co-branding and joint promotional activities, it will continue technical collaboration to support Tor Browser development. The decision follows a due diligence process involving staff, the board, and community discussions.
Scope of the collaboration
- Technical collaboration focuses on improving the structure, maintainability, and auditability of the Tor Browser codebase.
- The partnership provides a lower-risk environment for testing features intended for Tor Browser users.
- The Project has paused proactive co-branding and joint promotional activities with Mullvad.
- Language regarding the endorsement of Mullvad Browser on Tor-owned channels has been clarified to avoid implying value alignment.
Why it matters
The decision highlights the tension between pragmatic technical resource acquisition and the ideological alignment required by human rights-focused open source projects.
Original reference: blog.torproject.org →