A statement on the Tor Project's relationship with Mullvad

Tor explains that recent community alarm over a political donation by a Mullvad co‑founder prompted a thorough review of its funding relationship with Mullvad. After extensive community and staff consultations, a staff survey, and financial analysis and scenario planning, Tor decided not to terminate its technical collaboration but to impose clear limits. Leaders weighed calls to end the relationship against operational impacts on users and contributors and concluded that continued cooperation is necessary to sustain specific technical work relied on by the Tor ecosystem.

The statement details why the collaboration continues and what changes are being implemented: joint work has contributed to better structure, maintainability, and auditability of Tor Browser code, broadened user feedback, provided a safer testing environment for features, and expanded access to privacy tools. To avoid implied endorsement and protect independence, Tor paused proactive co‑branding and joint promotional activities, tightened descriptive language about Mullvad Browser on owned channels, and confined work to a narrowly scoped agreement. The organization acknowledges the trust cost for some community members, commits to keeping human‑rights principles central, and says future collaborations must serve and never obscure its commitments to privacy, anonymity, free expression, and other human rights.