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TOR’s official browser is now available on Android devices

Always nice to see new ways of keeping your private life, well, private.

tor browser on android
Image: TOR Project

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The privacy-first TOR Browser has just launched on Android, as a stable version. This is the first time that an official browser from the TOR Project has been released on a mobile platform.

The TOR Project notes that there are still some gaps between the desktop and mobile versions, but the most important features are ready to go.

Privacy should be a human right

In many parts of the world, mobile browsing is the only way that people can get online. Those countries are often under the control of authoritarian governments, who routinely run surveillance online while censoring the parts of the web they disagree with. The TOR Browser takes all the complicated setup out of safer mobile browsing.

Here’s what to expect from the TOR Browser on Android:

  • The TOR Browser blocks anyone monitoring you from seeing what websites you visit
  • The browser also unblocks any sites that your internet provider has blocked
  • Your data is encrypted three times as it moves across the network
  • It also stops third-party trackers or ads from following you around the web
  • The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has called TOR “the king of high-secure, low-latency Internet anonymity”
  • Originally developed by DARPA and the United States Naval Research Laboratory to protect US Intelligence communications

Sorry Apple users, the TOR Project says it can’t bring its browser to iOS due to Apple’s restrictions. They recommend Onion Browser as an alternative, developed by Mike Tigas with help from the Guardian Project.

What do you think? Glad to see TOR on Android? Will you use it? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.

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