What Is A Tor Bridge? Should I Use One?

INTRODUCTION

Tor is a must have tool. No matter who you are. If you haven't downloaded the Browser yet, it's about time. Do so here. By helping grow the active user base, you add more "hay to the haystack", potentially protecting vulnerable users, as well as yourself.
(+ run a bridge / relay if you can to help protect Human Rights)

Whether Journalist, Student, Human Rights activist, lawyer, private investigator (OSINT) (or even part of Law Enforcement). People from all walks of life use Tor Browser to protect Human Rights/privacy/anonymity online.

Privacy (or lack of it) is shaping our collective future (regionally and worldwide) in much deeper levels than we realize.

Today we see "behavior modelling": AI is not only attempting to predict behavior,
but actually manipulating influences, manifesting future decisions (based on our data).

Shaping our behavior. Making our decisions.

All of this, manufactured. Made possible via massive troves of data we have allowed to be collected on each of us (and within collective groups) AI needs our data to get to know us. To accurately predict us. To mold us in the image of those funding.

Companies may end up knowing more about us (ie: "what makes us tick") than we even know of ourselves. Our deepest strengths, weaknesses, interests, desires, dislikes. Our innermost fears and unique emotional cues.

It is in my strong opinion: in this age of AI, we can't afford to sacrifice the future to flawed algorithms.

Information is power. And information on us, becomes power over us. Even when we have:
"nothing to hide"

And in this way, privacy matters. No matter how else we might feel on this subject.

(information on tor network below next section)

BRIDGES AND TOR: DO I NEED TO USE ONE?

First: What Is A Bridge?

As seen in the image I created for you below, a bridge is acting as the "Entry", or "Guard Node".

In a standard Tor connection (no bridge), you will be connecting through a list of randomly chosen, publicly listed Tor relays, or "nodes".

Why Bridge?

Some ISP's block the public list of Tor Relays. This leaves many users around the world without access to Tor or a free and open internet.

Bridges act as unlisted entry nodes, or guards. Helping users bypass ISP blocking in countries with Human Rights abuse problems.

Not only this, your connection to a pluggable transport bridge can mimic other types of common internet traffic, further enhancing Tor's censorship bypass abilities.

With a Bridge, you will be connecting to one of these unlisted Entry nodes, also known as a "guard".

Watch today's 5min video on Peertube, by clicking the bridge image below:

[ Watch On Odysee ]

[ Watch On Peertube ]

[ Watch On Bitchute ]

[ Watch On Youtube ]

Tor Network

Tor Clearnet Network Connection (Clearnet Shown Above: 3 Proxy Hops)
(.com's .org's .net's - standard domain) - use encryption here (ie: https)

VS

Tor: Hidden Service Connection
(.onion address: End-To-End Encryption between Tor Clients)

If you liked this you may like the Snowflake Extension Video from earlier:

https://youtu.be/DfX1gUx0YDg

Additional Tips:

• If speed matters more to you, OBS4 Bridges tend to be faster than Snowflakes. And there are more dedicated OBS4 bridges.

• You may achieve additional privacy/anonymity benefits by actually running a bridge yourself, and becoming a part of the Tor Network (personally think privacy/anonymity should be prioritized over sacrificing it to increase speed, but that's me.).

• Be a part of the Tor Network: Install the Snowflake Browser extension! If you can't afford to give back to Tor other ways, become a part of the solution! It's easy. Search for "snowflake" extension in Mozilla Firefox/Chrome.

Looking forward to introducing more topics and add some custom/unique techniques in the future.

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RELATED TO THIS POST:

Tor Project (Bridges: User Manual)
Download Tor Browser
Tor Project (Donating to Tor project link)
Firefox Snowflake Ext (Become A Bridge Easy!)