Facebook isn’t something you generally associate with anonymous browsing. But, did you know that Facebook operates an Onion version of the site on the Tor network?
The Tor protocol anonymizes network traffic and circumvents ISP and local level censorship. It does this by bouncing communications around a distributed node network with a diverse range of end points where the traffic exits the Tor network and enters the standard internet.
Here is how you browse Facebook on the Tor network in five easy steps.
How Do I Access Facebook Over Tor?
The use of the Tor network remains steady, with around 2 million regular users. Yet, in comparison to the regular internet, that is a minute figure. Not that many people know how to use Tor, which is unfortunate. In recent years, the Tor development team have made it easier than ever to use.
The advent of increasing government internet surveillance and the passage of various privacy destroying policies and laws could push more regular internet users towards Tor. Better still, setting your computer up to access Facebook over Tor only takes a matter of minutes, and comes with a heap of benefits, too: better security, no tracking, and no advertising to name but a few.
Step 1: Download the Tor Browser
Tor Browser is a variant of Mozilla Firefox that comes pre-configured to access the Tor network. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and there are also versions available for Android and iOS. Furthermore, Tor Browser comes in a binary format that can run direct from a USB flash drive without any tweaking, like other handy portable apps.
Head to the Tor Project homepage and select Download Tor Browser. Once your download completes, head to the folder and install Tor Browser. After installation, open Tor Browser. It will ask whether to wish to connect directly to the Tor network or configure bridge or proxy settings. At the current time, select Connect.
Next, install any pending updates, then proceed.
Step 2: Connect to the Tor Network
Once you connect (and install any updates), you will arrive on the Tor Browser homepage, which looks like so:
The initial connection can take some time.
Please note that your Tor connection is localized to the Tor Browser. If you start torrenting or downloading other files outside of the browser, it uses your regular internet connection and your activity will remain open to your ISP. If you want to protect all of you incoming and outgoing internet traffic, you need to use a VPN.
Check out the VPN section further down the article for more information on which VPN to use, as well as how to install one.
Step 3: Head to the Facebook Onion Site
In the Tor Browser address bar, visit: https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/
Tor isn’t as fast as your regular browser. It isn’t achingly slow, but you will have to wait a moment. When the Facebook onion site loads, it will look like the standard Facebook login screen.
Step 4: Verify You’re at the Official Facebook Tor Page
Finally, to verify your connection to the Facebook server, click the green padlock in the address bar. You can see the Steps taken to the site, tracing your path across the Tor network. Now, click the arrow alongside “Secure Connection,” and check the certification. If the name on the certificate says “DigiCert Inc,” you’re in the right place.
Step 5: Disable HTML5 Canvas
When you arrive at the Facebook onion site, you will see a warning that the site is attempting to “use your HTML5 canvas image data.” Your HTML5 canvas data could potentially be used to fingerprint your browser, so it is worth disabling this feature when Tor Browser gives you the notification.
Using a VPN With TOR
Using a VPN with Tor Browser gives you an extra layer of security and a privacy boost with it. A VPN protects all of your incoming and outgoing internet traffic from prying eyes. Plus, if your Tor connection is misconfigured, your VPN will stop your Tor traffic leaking out into the regular internet. In that sense, it is a vital backup tool.
Our favorite VPN provider is ExpressVPN, which has a respected history of great performance and data privacy. You can get three FREE months of ExpressVPN if you sign up using this link.
Is Facebook Over Tor Better for Privacy?
Overall, yes, your privacy and security receive a massive boost. Connecting to the Facebook onion site virtually eliminates the potential for a man-in-the-middle attack to intercept your data. The chances of a malvertising or cryptojacking attack also substantially decreases because of the security settings in the Tor Browser.
However, once you log into the Facebook onion site, Facebook can see what you are doing. That activity is not hidden. By extension, other people will still see what you post, your likes, comments, and so on, as will government agencies and anyone else that can see your profile.
Connecting to Facebook via the Tor Browser isn’t a magic cure for the ills of social media and its invasive nature.
Use Facebook on Tor to Avoid Censorship
You can use the Tor browser to access Facebook from countries with censorship and restrictions, such as China, North Korea, and Iran. Despite Facebook’s well documented privacy issues 4 Reasons Why Facebook Is a Security and Privacy Nightmare Facebook is no longer the king of the social media castle. If you value your anonymity, security, and privacy, here are some great reasons to quit Facebook today. Read More , its ongoing tribulations with security issues, and strong links to the dissemination of fake news, it remains a vital lifeline for individuals in countries with checkered human rights records and endemic censorship of the free press.
Still, Facebook is known for its insistence that users register their real identity to use the social media site, too. It’s been known to deactivate the accounts of users it suspects of accessing the site under a “fraudulent name;” an Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyer with unfortunate luck to share a name with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg found out the hard way.
Furthermore, Facebook deactivated the accounts of hundreds of drag performers, all of whom registered using their performer pseudonyms. They reactivated some, but the struggles for drag performers to use their pseudonyms continues.
Judges, social workers, teachers, carers, abuse victims, and other individuals in vulnerable or positions or otherwise require the of use aliases, too.
Had enough of Facebook, Tor or not? It is time to delete your Facebook account. Here’s what deactivating or delete your Facebook account really means What Deactivating or Deleting Facebook Really Means for Privacy Thinking about quitting Facebook? Here's how deleting or deactivating Facebook can improve your online privacy. Read More .
Related topics: Facebook, Online Security, Surveillance, Tor Network.
Affiliate Disclosure: By buying the products we recommend, you help keep the site alive. Read more.
Will I get all my friends as my page follower after converting my profile to Facebook Page ??
Will I get my all friends as my page followers after converting my profile to page ?????
Facebook forces me to do a security check every time I sign in on Tor. It looks like it will also ask me to change my passport frequently. Can I avoid these intrusions?
Yesterday , December 28 2016 , I tried to acess my facebook account with Tor. I was blocked right away.
This is horrible. In many Arab countries , pakistan , people can be arrested killed because they dare to voice opinions contrary to their culturas background. In pakistan blasphemy has death penalty. The FB policy that people should use their own names and cannot use anonimisers is culture centric . They just are not aware that is most countries of the world a post can land you in jail or dead. Even in the US posting real names, pictures can lead to harrasement online. As authors have the right to publish under pseudonyms people should have the right to publish in facebook anonimously. I lost an account with dozens of pictures I had taken of my neighborhood, but who cares ?I cannot upload my ID card. With so many hackers today who know where it might land.
I was basically just banned from FB due to this issue..I use an Artist pseudonym. I decided to use this as basically I like to ensure my child is protected. Due to an abusive wife's ex. One thats cost us close to 100,000 dollars in endless, stupid lawsuits in which he works and gains social welfare..I also desire to protect myself from FB and that is my choice. Have been on it since nearly day 1 with the same name, am phone verified. It stated upon log in after this took place that A post or I had been "flagged"..I do post the on the edge of politically correct, but have never included in any of my posts anything I can be duly flagged and then removed for..upon new log in, after stating I had been "Flagged", it then required some form of ID. This I will not provide. I then look at my emails, two emails from FB. First one titled "In response to your query"...It then went on to state I had queried a name change and that my name should be something I use in real life..I DO use my pseudonym in real life..its what I sign on all my artwork and is also a nickname my friends call me..Though the second email suggests my account has been blocked, not due to being flagged, or due to me querying a name change but due to the fact they feel it may represent a business name and can no doubt I assume for a small fee help me arrange a "business" page..I don't earn money from Facebook..So what lie is true? Why did my account actually be banned, was it flagged by a general user because they didn't like my comment somewhere or was it because they feel I am a business..FB has wormed its way into most of our lives, I live rural and am removed from most people by location, FB is one of my only social outlets and has close to ten years worth of pictures and journal like writing and all my artwork plus two other help pages I use to teach others. To loose it, and also every other site I post on by connecting through Facebook is wrong. For FB to do what it has done is wrong. I can say I won't miss it, life goes on beyond Facebook but what they have done is immoral and against everything I stand for..Bye bye Facebook, may you rot in hell...
If you don't use a consistent IP number on Facebook, they will constantly block your account, then ask you to reset your password every time you log in.
When I try to connect it takes me to a checkpoint where I have to identify people or use text message. how can I disable that option.
when i tor connect it take a long time for connect
I am having problems with FB. When I access it from TOR it gives me a javascript problem and asks to reload. In order to fix it I have to allow temporary scripts. Any ideas???
But here's the thing: sign in to Facebook's .onion service using a Tor browser alone and you're fine. But try it using a Tor browser in *conjunction* with, say, a Linux-based distro that spoofs your MAC/IP and blocks the sorts of cookies/scripts etc. which could be used to track *even* a Tor user across the internet, and it's no-go. It just keeps saying you've entered the wrong password.
Why would this be?
Let's get real: Facebook doesn't want to be in a situation where it has users for whom there is no log of info (on its own servers) which could be used to identify them, their location and internet activity. Facebook's whole business model is *based* on extracting this sort of data for marketing purposes. None of which matters if you completely trust Facebook of course.
But if you dont...
What is the point......
The sole purpose of TOR is anonymity, so who on earth is thinking "Oh no! Why is my IP shared with Facebook!? I am okay to share my name, my phone number,my e-mail ,my address, my status, my current location with them, just not my IP!" In case you don't know, use TOR does mean you are completely invisible on the internet.
This is the stupidest thing ever.
The point is there is a difference between anonymity and privacy, Say you live in a country that censors the internet and blocks things like facebook to prevent people getting their message out there.
Tor is not just for hiding on the internet it is also a censorship circumvention measure.
You're the comic book guy from The Simpsons, right? Plus, it's a lot of this you just dont get and I'm not about to explain it for you.
Hi, can you say something about using FB over Tor in the light of the upcoming new FB terms & conditions? I mean, once a picture is uploaded to FB, does it matter how it came there? It can still be used in any commercial way FB pleases right?
How are you?
what is the difirence between using facebook.com and this tor address?
This has point-to-point encryption, and can't be subject to endpoint interception!
What's the point of using Facebook over Tor? When your account is not anonymous.
They'll ask you to submit your phone number or government issued-ID.
n00b
Won't it be a useful tool for hackers ? I mean they can't trace them then , right ?
Probably no more than Tor already is.
I use PIA VPN so this is pretty much useless for someone like me who would rather ALL of their internet activity be anonymous instead of just one site.
Tor can be used along with a VPN for an extra layer of protection. This is actually the recommended practice for situations where anonymity is critical.
There is also a way to access the .onion-site via clearnet: facebookcorewwwi.onion.cab/
But I don't think that would make any sense for your anonymity
Newb here, is that mean when I type facebook.com within TOR Browser, I couldn't get to facebook?
This doesn't work for me on ATT iphone 6 using the onion browser, it just loads back to the Tor greeting page.
Weird. I'm not sure what to suggest. Have you tried on Tor Browser?
weird..im not sure what to suggest.have you tried on tor browser../