About one month ago I presented TorProxy, an Android application developed by a group of researchers at the University of Cambridge that allows users to browse the web anonymously. TorProxy is a pure Java implementation of Tor-based on OnionCoffee. Learn about Orbot.
Orbot – A new Android anonymous browsing tool
Several days ago, another Android application for anonymous browsing was released: Orbot. The Android app manages installation, bundles the Tor binary, provides the user interface and contains a built-in HTTP proxy.
“We have successfully ported the native C Tor app to Android and built an Android application bundle that installs, runs and provides the glue needed to make it useful to end users…. secure, anonymous access to the web via Tor on Android is now a reality,” writes Guardian Project team member Nathan Freitas.
Better than TorProxy
The development team believes that their C implementation is significantly better than the Java-based ports of Tor (like TorProxy). This translates to a better experience for the user, with no noticeable increase in battery drain or lag on the rest of the device while Tor is running in the background.
Developers would like to get Orbot ready for a 1.0 release as soon as possible and they are looking for some volunteers to lend a hand. The team also needs help modifying the privacy-focused Android browser, Shadow to make it work with Orbot’s HTTP proxy. If you want to help them leave a comment on Nathan Freitas’s blog.
Free anonymous web surfing sites allow you to bypass work filters by fetching the website’s data themselves, and then sending it back to you through the free anonymizer. These free anonymous surfing sites are powered by software that resides on the server. Not only do they allow you to circumvent filters put in place by network administrators, they also protect your online privacy by masking your IP Address, thus allowing you to surf the web anonymously. When you surf without a free anonymizer, your computer is exposed to all types of potentially harmful content (like viruses and spyware), and your personal information can easily be recorded by data trackers, effectively eliminating any privacy at work.