Privacy seekers and admirers have every reason to rejoice since Facebook is bringing TOR, the free anonymizing software to support its android application.
This is a surprising turn of events but if we recall, Facebook already announced its plan to make the social network directly available on TOR network back in 2014.
This is indeed a step forward as far as the privacy of users on Facebook is concerned. The social network has integrated Orbot specifically for its forthcoming Facebook Android app.
Orbot is a free proxy application designed by the Guardian Project. The purpose of Orbot incorporation in Facebook’s android app is to ensure that the user’s location isn’t revealed.
In an official statement, Facebook stated that.
“The company aimed to offer experimental support for using Facebook over Tor” through Orbot for Android after receiving requests repeatedly to provide “additional platform support beyond the browser.”
TOR Project’s executive director Shari Steele also praised this move of Facebook and told SCMagazine.com that:
“I think it’s wonderful that there is going to be widespread deployment of this app and attention to the Tor Project.”
TOR has although received criticism in the past for being a tool developed for those who ply the dark web and want their identities to remain anonymous, but Steele states that the FBI has “done a good job,” to hammer this perception that TOR is specifically for criminals and terrorists. Furthermore, the
Onion browser has been used for a long time for ensuring secure communication between researchers and journalists seeking to maintain full privacy. However, the game-changer would be getting public’s support for Orbot via Facebook,
Facebook revealed that a “sizeable community of people” has been accessing the site over TOR and the company is aiming to utilize the free Orbot proxy app, available on Google’s Play Store to secure its Android app.
1. To log on to Facebook via TOR, all you need is to Download Orbot proxy app from the Google Play Store or click here.
2. Open the Facebook app and choose “Use Tor via Orbot,” which can be found in the app’s Settings menu.That’s all.
You will be instantly connected to the hidden service of Facebook on TOR and your real IP address will be masked, therefore, your ISP (internet service provider) won’t be able to see you visiting Facebook.
Apart from privacy and anonymity, another benefit of this new feature is that it will let users visit Facebook even if the social network is blocked in their countries, such as Iran and China.
In our next article, we will show you how to install Orbot on your Android device, so stay tuned.
