I use Mullvad VPN, is it better to use Wireguard with the quantum secure tunnels, or to use Openvpn with bridges? I am not too concerned about the speed or latency of the connection. Is using the Wireguard obfuscation and good enough alternative to shadowsocks? I don't live in a country where I need to avoid censorship, just wondering what is most private out of the options.
Vpns are not anonymous. If your government is not censoring the websites you visit, there's no need to use a vpn. It's not gonna make your any more private than you already are. Use tor if you care about privacy
My brother was working for a US-based VPN fairly recently. Handled reporting bugs and doing QA testing with the software as well as customer feedback. In one of the internal tools, there was a "folder" that contained all the subpoenas from local law enforcement as well as from the FBI. If the gov't asks for info about a specific user, you hand it to them on silver platter.
This is blatantly overreacting to the base question the OP provided. Stop spreading FUD.
VPNs can, will, and do provide protection in civilized countries where privacy is an enumerated legal right.
While they don't compare to the Anonymity provided by Tor; for most basic things you will be doing within the boundaries of the Law; a VPN will protect you a bit better from nuisance intrusions into your privacy and secure your connections better overall.