The Tor Project wants beta testers of its new VPN service to help “[tip] the scales toward a freer internet.” Free to use and available in Google’s Play Store, the recently launched Tor VPN is only for Android devices and is still in an early-access beta, so availability may fluctuate in its testing phase. If you get access, you can be one of the first to test the service and provide feedback to the Tor Project.
Tor Project developers emphasize that the service shouldn’t yet be used for any high-risk activities, and beta testers should expect bugs. The beta is intended for “early adopters who want to help shape mobile privacy and can do so safely.” Users with serious privacy needs -- such as journalists, activists or whistleblowers -- who want to access the Tor network should instead use NordVPN or Proton VPN with Tor-over-VPN servers for sensitive activities. The Tor Project encourages users to test the app’s limits and report any bugs they encounter.
If you’re an Android user who values enhanced privacy initiatives and likes to test new software, the Tor VPN beta could be a great opportunity to influence the shaping of a unique, privacy-first VPN service.
What is Tor VPN, exactly, and what can it do?
Tor VPN is a VPN built by the Tor Project, a nonprofit focused on maintaining Tor’s development. Instead of routing your traffic through traditional VPN servers, Tor VPN sends your data through three decentralized relays in the Tor network.
The idea behind Tor, or "onion routing," is to hide your internet traffic behind several encryption layers. To do this, your traffic is sent through three servers in the Tor network, a series of volunteer-operated nodes -- or relays -- located in different parts of the world. Each time the data is sent through one of these relays, the server decrypts a layer of the onion and reveals the destination of the next relay server in the path until it reaches the exit node, which decrypts the final layer and sends your request to the website you’re visiting.
This way, neither of the relays can see the entire path your data takes, making it harder to trace your online activity back to you. The process masks your public IP address and hides your internet activity from your ISP and other online snoops. Additionally, the decentralized nature of the Tor network makes it virtually impossible for a single entity to compromise the network.
Your typical consumer VPN service operates similarly to Tor, in that it routes your data through a remote server (sometimes two) while encrypting your traffic and masking your public IP address. But a VPN is usually operated by a centralized entity, meaning there’s a single point of failure, and you have to put a ton of trust in your VPN provider to protect your privacy online.
Using the Tor network theoretically gives you a greater degree of privacy than using a VPN. However, a solid VPN whose backend and no-logs policies are regularly audited can still provide sufficient privacy for users with critical privacy needs. Using a VPN also typically delivers far faster speeds than routing your traffic through Tor, making VPNs great for staying private while browsing or engaging in more data-heavy activities such as streaming, gaming or torrenting.
Additionally, while your Tor traffic exits through a node in a random location, a VPN typically allows you to choose which country to connect through, which is advantageous for maintaining fast, stable connections as well as for unblocking geo-restricted streaming content.
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