Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(software)
Commercial? No
Established 2009
History
Guardian Project was founded by Nathan Freitas in 2009 in Brooklyn, NY.[4][5][6] Since it was
founded, Guardian Project has developed more than a dozen mobile applications for Android
and iOS with over two million downloads and hundreds of thousands of active users. It has also
partnered with prominent open source software projects, activists groups, NGOs, commercial
partners and news organizations to support their mobile security software capabilities.
In November 2014, "ChatSecure + Orbot" received a top score on the Electronic Frontier
Foundation's secure messaging scorecard, along with Cryptocat, TextSecure, "Signal /
RedPhone", Silent Phone, and Silent Text.[7] "Jitsi + Ostel" scored 6 out of 7 points on the
Electronic Frontier Foundation's secure messaging scorecard. They lost a point because there
has not been a recent independent code audit.[7]
In March 2016, Guardian Project announced a partnership with F-Droid and CopperheadOS with
the goal of creating "a solution that can be verifiably trusted from the operating system, through
the network and network services, all the way up to the app stores and apps themselves".[8][9]
Funding
Guardian Project has received funding from Google, UC Berkeley with the MacArthur Foundation,
Avaaz, Internews, Open Technology Fund, WITNESS, the Knight Foundation, Benetech, ISC
Project and Free Press Unlimited.[10]
Through work on partner projects like the Tor Project, Commotion mesh and StoryMaker, the
Project has received indirect funding both from the US State Department (through the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Internet Freedom program) and from the Dutch Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (through HIVOS).
Projects
Active
Orbot
Orbot: A Tor client for Android. Tor uses Onion Routing to provide access to network services
that may be blocked, censored or monitored, while also protecting the identity of the user
requesting those resources.[11] Often Orbot is installed with orWall,[12] an app which takes the
lead on the firewall and then add the required iptables rules for traffic shaping in order to allow
Orbot traffic, and force the selected applications to be redirected to the Orbot TransPort.
Instead of Orbot, AFWall+, available on F-Droid and Google Play app repository, is an
alternative choice recommended for re-routing outbound traffic back through the local Tor
port, even with iptables rules,[13] and with a virtual private network like OpenVPN. Finally,
NetCipher SDK is the app developed by Guardian Project for users interested in enabling theirs
apps working directly with Orbot (and thus with Orfox Tor browser).[14]
ObscuraCam: A secure camera app that can obscure, encrypt or destroy pixels within an
image. This project is in partnership with WITNESS, a human rights video advocacy and
training organization.[11]
Haven – free and open-source Android security application designed to monitor activity
happening around a device using its built-in sensors, and to alert the device owner of such
activity. Co-developed with Edward Snowden under the auspices of the Freedom of the Press
Foundation.[16]
Discontinued
Orfox: A mobile counterpart of the Tor Browser. Guardian Project announced the stable alpha
of Orfox on 30 June 2015. Orfox is built from Fennec (Firefox for Android) code and the Tor
Browser code repository, and is given security hardening patches by the Tor Browser
development team. Some of the Orfox build work is based on the Fennec; F-Droid project.[17] In
Orfox, the project removed the WebRTC component, Chromecast connectivity, app
permissions to access the camera, microphone, contacts (address book), location data (GPS
et al.), and NFC.[17][18] Orfox was to supersede the Orweb browser project,[17] and has in turn
been superseded by the Tor Browser for Android.[19]
Orweb: A privacy enhanced web browser that supports proxies. When used with Orbot, Orweb
protects against network analysis, blocks cookies, keeps no local browsing history, and
disables Flash to keep the user safe.[11]
Ostel: A tool for having end-to-end encrypted VoIP calls.[20] This was a public testbed of the
Open Secure Telephony Network (OSTN) project, with the goal of promoting the use of free,
open protocols, standards and software, to power end-to-end secure voice communications
on mobile devices, as well as with desktop computers.[11] This was discontinued in 2017.[21]
Distribution
Guardian Project offers downloads of its apps from Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Aptoide,
directly from their website, and through an F-Droid-compatible repository.[11][22] Direct
downloads are signed and can be verified with the developer's key.[23]
References
2. Thomas Lowenthal (19 April 2011). "For paranoid Androids, Guardian Project offers smartphone security"
(https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/04/for-paranoid-androids-guardian-project-suppli
es-smartphone-security/) . ArsTechnica.com. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
6. NANCY SCOLA (31 March 2011). "Guardian Project: Building Mobile Security for a Dangerous World" (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20121224051259/http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/guardian-project-buildi
ng-mobile-security-dangerous-world) . TechPresident.com. Archived from the original (http://techpresid
ent.com/blog-entry/guardian-project-building-mobile-security-dangerous-world) on 24 December 2012.
Retrieved 15 May 2013.
7. "Secure Messaging Scorecard. Which apps and tools actually keep your messages safe?" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20161115054343/https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scorecard) . Electronic
Frontier Foundation. 2014-11-04. Archived from the original (https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scor
ecard) on 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
8. "Copperhead, Guardian Project and F-Droid Partner to Build Open, Verifiably Secure Mobile Ecosystem" (h
ttps://guardianproject.info/2016/03/28/copperhead-guardian-project-and-f-droid-partner-to-build-open-ve
rifiably-secure-mobile-ecosystem/) .
9. "Announcing CopperheadOS Crowdfunding" (https://copperhead.co/blog/2016/03/29/crowdfunding-part
nership-announced) .
13. "No more "Root" features in Orbot... use Orfox & VPN instead! – Guardian Project" (https://guardianprojec
t.info/2017/10/27/no-more-root-features-in-orbot-use-orfox-vpn-instead/) . guardianproject.info.
Retrieved 2018-10-03.
15. Nathan Freitas (24 October 2013). "ChatSecure v12 Provides Comprehensive Mobile Security and a
Whole New Look" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180907183011/https://guardianproject.info/2013/10/
24/chatsecure-v12-provides-comprehensive-security-and-a-whole-new-look/) . GuardianProject.info.
Archived from the original (https://guardianproject.info/2013/10/24/chatsecure-v12-provides-comprehen
sive-security-and-a-whole-new-look/) on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
16. "Snowden-Backed App 'Haven' Turns Your Phone into a Home Security System" (https://www.wired.com/
story/snowden-haven-app-turns-phone-into-home-security-system/) . Wired.
17. n8fr8 (2015-06-30). "Orfox: Aspiring to bring Tor Browser to Android" (https://guardianproject.info/2015/0
6/30/orfox-aspiring-to-bring-tor-browser-to-android/) . Guardian Project. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
18. Long, Jacob (2015-07-01). "Orfox Is Guardian Project's Latest App For Bringing The Tor Browser
Experience To Android, First Alpha Release Is Available" (http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/01/orfo
x-is-the-guardian-projects-latest-app-for-bringing-the-tor-browser-experience-to-android-first-alpha-release
-is-available/) . Android Police. Illogical Robot LLC. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
19. "Orfox Paved the Way for Tor Browser on Android" (https://blog.torproject.org/orfox-paved-way-tor-brows
er-android/) . The Tor Project. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
External links
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