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Ok there is mobile service provider which also happens to be providing mobile internet.

Now, I am interested to hide my activity from that provider. e.g. it can't see my browsing habbit. Basically this provider know both owner of particular phone number. and also provides internet.

my question is:

  • Using a proxy will (partially) hide you from the websites you access. Using a properly configured VPN will hide the websites you visit from your ISP. – Owen Jul 22 '16 at 19:49
  • @Owen what about the tools I listed? –  Jul 22 '16 at 19:51
  • VPN or Tor are the most secure strategies. – Neil Smithline Jul 22 '16 at 20:20
  • @NeilSmithline so orbot or orfox? –  Jul 23 '16 at 18:55
  • they seem reasonable. If you're looking for VPN, Private Internet Access is fairly easy to configure – Neil Smithline Jul 23 '16 at 18:58
  • @NeilSmithline I could not configure easy to use vpn on android. So using these ISP or mobile service provider or how they call it will not easily trace what a user - owner of some mobile phone number - does right? because my requests are routed to different tor gateways? hence they can't trace? –  Jul 23 '16 at 19:08
  • @user200300 Yes, that us correct. And PIA is just an app. Install it, run it, and it works. Probably easier than Tor – Neil Smithline Jul 23 '16 at 19:11
  • @NeilSmithline I will try PIA Now. also why ISP or whoever can't see it when I use PIA is because ISP sees that I am connected to PIA right? nothing else? btw I thought orfox would be easy to use, just browser –  Jul 23 '16 at 19:18
  • @NeilSmithline ah PIA seems to be not free also :( –  Jul 23 '16 at 19:18
  • @user200300 PIA is a pay service. Yes, they just see connection to VPN or Tor. Never used orfox so can't say, just know PIA is simple – Neil Smithline Jul 23 '16 at 19:20
  • @NeilSmithline ok thanks yes just pia seems not free. i will try orfox seems easy to use, just browser –  Jul 23 '16 at 19:27
  • Orfox requires Orbot in order to use Tor. – multithr3at3d Jul 25 '16 at 13:57

2 Answers2

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To answer this question directly:

is using just proxy protection for this?

Possibly, but a proxy would have to be specially configured to manipulate the traffic it receives. Even then it is still might go over the ISP "wire" where they inspect the traffic and forward it along. Keep in mind a proxy is just something between your end point and the intended endpoint. So unless the proxy just sends the traffic over another wire entirely (like what a web proxy does), your ISP will still get it. To what level an ISP can inspect that traffic is outside of the scope of this answer.

Is using this tool: https://guardianproject.info/apps/orbot/, protection for this?

"Protection" is subjective. Some believe that the entire Tor network has been compromised, while others believe it to be a true anonmyzer. It really depends on what you think offers the greatest level of protection for you. Everyone in the InfoSec field will confirm you do security in layers. But I digress - Orbot:

uses Tor to encrypt your Internet traffic and then hides it by bouncing through a series of computers around the world.

So more or less it sends your app data connections over the Tor network. Some app servers might be okay with that but some others might not.

or this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.guardianproject.orfox ?

Again, it all depends on your comfort level of protection. In the application description it says:

THIS IS A BETA RELEASE MEANT FOR PUBLIC TESTING ONLY. PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON THIS FOR STRONG ANONYMITY UNTIL ALL TESTING IS COMPLETE.

If you are really serious and want to hide your traffic, you would use a VPN with an anonymizer. But that is another discussion entirely.

BBowie
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  • I just need browsing privacy - and not paranoic security, none will just try to figure out what I searched, but just in case. So is orbot OK for this? i think orfox should be also ok –  Jul 23 '16 at 18:54
  • some vpns i found hard to use –  Jul 23 '16 at 18:55
  • @user200300 - In the situation you have provided, Orbot or Orfox will be sufficient. – BBowie Jul 25 '16 at 12:54
  • yes but they are slow –  Jul 26 '16 at 18:27
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A proxy is usually not enough. It justs forwards your traffic without hiding its characteristics.

So in the easiest case you have HTTP only traffic. Your provider can just read what you're doing. But also in the case of HTTPS traffic the provider can look at the request sizes, times when packets are requested etc. So your provider is able to learn with some certainty what you're doing online.

Orbot in connection with OrFox relys on the Tor network. It was specifically designed to hide your browsing habits. Currently it is one of the solutions which keep the promise. Especially the Tor Browser was designed with privacy in mind and OrFox also uses those design ideas and patches.

qbi
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