Tor bridges and how they avoid censorship

1. Can Tor bypass censorship?
2. What is the purpose of bridges in Tor?
3. How does Tor make itself accessible to user who are in countries that attempt to censor Tor traffic?
4. How are Tor bridges protected from being blocked by the internet service providers?
5. Is Tor allowed in Russia?
6. What problem do Tor bridges solve?
7. Is it safer to use a bridge in Tor?
8. Which Tor bridge is better?
9. Can Tor bypass blocked websites?
10. Is Tor Browser untrackable?
11. Is Tor censored?
12. Can you get flagged for using Tor?
13. Does VPN block Tor?
14. Does Google block Tor?
15. Why do so many websites block Tor?

Can Tor bypass censorship?

The Tor Project team has announced the release of Tor Browser 11.5, which introduces functionalities to automatically bypass censorship. The Tor Project team has announced the release of Tor Browser 11.5, the new version of the popular privacy-oriented browser implements new features to fight censorship.

What is the purpose of bridges in Tor?

Tor bridges are secret Tor relays that keep your connection to the Tor network hidden. Use a bridge as your first Tor relay if connecting to Tor is blocked or if using Tor could look suspicious to someone who monitors your Internet connection.

How does Tor make itself accessible to user who are in countries that attempt to censor Tor traffic?

People who live in countries where the internet is censored need "bridges." These lead to the known entry nodes to the Tor network, which are usually blocked by the regimes. Every Tor user can provide a bridge, making their own machine a virtual entry point.

How are Tor bridges protected from being blocked by the internet service providers?

How does it work? Censors block Tor in two ways: they can block connections to the IP addresses of known Tor relays, and they can analyze network traffic to find use of the Tor protocol. Bridges are secret Tor relays—they don't appear in any public list, so the censor doesn't know which addresses to block.

Is Tor allowed in Russia?

In December 2021, Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, enacted a 4-year-old court order that allows it to order Internet service providers (ISPs) to block the Tor Project website, where the Tor Browser can be downloaded, and restrict access to its services.

What problem do Tor bridges solve?

Abstract—Tor is a well-known low-latency anonymous communication system that is able to bypass the Internet censorship. However, publicly announced Tor routers are being blocked by various parties. To counter the censorship blocking, Tor introduced non-public bridges as the first-hop relay into its core network.

Is it safer to use a bridge in Tor?

Bridges are useful for Tor users under oppressive regimes, and for people who want an extra layer of security because they're worried somebody will recognize that they are contacting a public Tor relay IP address. A bridge is just a normal relay with a slightly different configuration.

Which Tor bridge is better?

Obfs4 Bridge is strongly recommended on the Tor official website. All of the analysis below is based on this kind of bridge.

Can Tor bypass blocked websites?

Use the Tor Browser to unblock banned sites

By sending your data through a network of volunteer servers, it hides your IP from the destination server and hides the destination server IP from your ISP.

Is Tor Browser untrackable?

Tor Browser is anonymous in terms of hiding your location and browsing activity — but there are limits. Although they can't see your browsing activity or Tor encrypted data, your ISP can still see that you're using Tor.

Is Tor censored?

Tor, the onion router, remains one of the most effective censorship circumvention technologies. Millions of people use the Tor network every day to access the internet without fear of surveillance and censorship. Most people get on the Tor network by downloading the Tor Browser and connecting to a relay.

Can you get flagged for using Tor?

Tor is perfectly legal in most Western countries. It only becomes illegal when you use it to access sites to trade in illegal materials. Though, you can still get flagged for dodgy activity if someone like your ISP spots you using it.

Does VPN block Tor?

Using Tor with a VPN is a good way to add another layer of security. This is because a VPN protects you in case the Tor network is compromised, and it hides Tor use. Nodes may be compromised and expose your data. This way, your browsing history could be reconstructed.

Does Google block Tor?

While Google and Yahoo don't block Tor users outright, some of their pages or services aren't available to visitors using Tor IP addresses.

Why do so many websites block Tor?

Sometimes websites will block Tor users because they can't tell the difference between the average Tor user and automated traffic. The best success we've had in getting sites to unblock Tor users is getting users to contact the site administrators directly.