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Facebook can now be accessed via Tor’s secure connections. Facebook has created a new function on its dedicated Android application that will allow mobile customers to connect to the online community anonymously via The Onion Router system or Tor.
People may not consider Facebook an extremely private network, but the organization did break other limits by releasing an .onion domain a couple of years ago. This way, clients can earn access the social platform anonymously and without revealing the real location.
However, the idea was that people could only connect to the website from a Tor-based browser and not straight from its cellular application. In the future, Facebook users having Android operating gadgets will be capable to gain access to the online community via Tor right from the dedicated application.
The feature came from a recommendation made by an IT student during an internship at the company’s offices in London. As Facebook stated in a short press release this week, rolling out its .onion improved the protection of Tor links to Facebook.
Meanwhile, it eliminated the actions that needed visitors to go beyond the secured online locations offered by Tor’s network. The social network promises that it will offer trial assistance for cellular app links to Tor through Orbot, which is Tor’s official proxy application for Android systems.
Orbot is provided on Google’s Play Store and on Orbot’s F-Droid database. The proxy application is connected with Tor’s platform, which manages a customer’s online visits through a sequence of computer systems around the globe to give anonymity
After Orbot is set up, Facebook customers on Android devices will be capable to use the recent privacy function by toggling a dedicated feature in the app’s configurations section. As it notices, once turned on, all notifications are deactivated, as they cannot be sent via Tor.
Facebook customers might not use the function just yet. Nevertheless, the online platform guarantees that this option will be offered within the next days. The move was necessary since Facebook’s protection facilities are in conflict with Tor’s deliberate browser obfuscation.
The direct web link provides an option for Facebook’s customers to have accessibility to the website via Tor without getting rid of the security offered by it, as Facebook described its important decision. It also offers assistance for mobile-friendly websites via the .onion domain as a short-term objective.
Facebook states that the development of professional support for Orbot’s proxies usually wants to improve the users’ experience by using the social network over Tor for all Android gadgets.
Image source: Thestack
