Torify your Apps#
Use the Tor Network for added anonymity and safety
Why use Tor?#
Tor is a free-to-use, decentralized and self-organizing network of proxy servers that allow people to anonymously connect to sites both on the clearweb and within the Tor Network, the latter one being called Onion Services as they use the .onion domain internally.
For more technical details we recommend to read about Onion Routing and the implementation in Tor itself.
Remediate Issues caused by Internet Censorship and other malicious actions.#
For example, some users may experience issues using our services due to DNS Hijacking commited by their ISP manipulating results.
- In some juristictions like "P.R." China, Indonesia and others, it is not enough to switch to a different, public DNS resolver as those get also blocked nationwide.
Getting Started#
Get Orbot for your mobile device#
Orbot is an App that provides transparent proxy functionality through Tor for your mobile device.
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You can download it for iOS and Android using Google Play or F-Droid.
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We recommend F-Droid for non - Google Apps Android devices, all you need to do is activate the Guardian Project Repository in the F-Droid App.
Get Tails for your PC or Laptop#
Tails is a privacy- and anonymity-focussed Linux Distribution that allows you to anonymously connect to the Internet by tunneling all traffic through Tor automatically.
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It is being installed on removeable media such as USB flashdrives and allows one to take their setup with them.
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It also includes the option to setup an encrypted persistent Storage so one's personal files are securely stored on it.
Known Issues and Limitations#
General Port Blocks#
Most public WiFi and even some commercial providers often block ports used for Tor, BitTorrent and other traffic-intensive applications.
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Using only Ports 80 (HTTP) & 443 (HTTPS) however works almost always.
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Using Tor Bridges, espechally of the
meekandwebtunneltypes on these ports should also help in case of blockades.
If possible, avoid networks with any filtering entirely!#
Tor being blocked#
A lot of Countries impose internet Censorship and also block Tor and it's sites.
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Luckily this can only be worked around using Tor Bridges that circumvent those blockades.
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We strongly recommend to get some Tor Bridges from the BridgeDB Service as these should provide ample of options.
The maintainers of Tor are not just aware of the problem but continue to improve workarounds to this day.
Please check based off your juristiction and exercise proper due diligence as well as InfoSec and ComSec!#
This is espechally true in juristictions that criminalize the use of Tor or any Anonymization tools, including but not limited to:
Or any other nation on the Reporters Without Borders "Internet enemies" list.
Connectivity Issues#
Depending on the Network you are in, you may or may not have IPv4 or IPv6 connectivity.
- Having at least one Tor Bridges preconfigured per type will usually help.
Notice that Tor depends on a somewhat accurate System Clock and will refuse to connect if the clock is out of sync for several minutes if not hours.
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You may want to use an NTP Server to sync your system clock automatically.
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You can find a list of reliable NTP Servers here.
Slow speeds and high latency#
As the entire Tor network is accessible free-of-charge for everyone, it can be quite crowded.
- Like any VPN and Proxy it will inherently add latency and be subject to the slower throughput of the nodes the traffic passes through.
Tho depending on your Internet connection using Tor may actually feel a bit faster due to caching and how it doesn't throttle connections by dropping packets like most mobile networks do.
Further Resources#
OONI#
The Open Observatory of Network Interference is monitoring and tracking Internet Censorship via their Probes to measure interferences.