Absolute Anonymity Now Possible on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB); Tor Link Established

Though an unusual move for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Inc., but for the first time ever, the social networking giant has allowed users to log in to the website through the proxy software, Tor.

Tor is a proxy software which came into existence in the year 2002. The software is open-source, which means anyone around the world can make appropriate amendments to its code, subject to approval by the publisher of the software. Anyone connecting to the internet using Tor is able to surf it freely, without ever disclosing his or her identity. The proxy software hides user’s IP address, and also disallows any location-based information from leaking out, resulting in a completely anonymous surf.

This does not mean Tor was blocked by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) in the past. Before this move was taken by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), users could still log onto the social networking website using Tor. However, as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) treated Tor as a bot net, a software used to attack websites, it blocked connections, resulting in irregular page loads and choppy image resolution.

Now, with a safe passage for Tor users, the website will load fully and smoothly. The connection between users using Tor and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will now be secure, hence data from and to Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will be encrypted at both ends.

This comes as exceptionally good news to people in countries like China and Iran, where internet is highly censored, and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is often banned by the government. With Tor, citizens of these countries can be sure to be able to access the social network without any hindrance.

The move is also great for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) as well. According to analysts, the social network benefits immensely by allowing Tor a safe passage to its doorstep, as millions of people, who are still not on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) due to internet censorship, will be able to join it.

To access Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) using Tor, the social networking website has specified a special address – https://Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)corewwwi.onion/. According to Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), this address is an “experiment”, which will evolve and naturalize overtime to become more stable. Alex Muffett, a software engineer, wrote in his blog that for the time being, “we expect the service to be of an evolutionary and slightly flaky nature.”

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has made history with its support for the Tor address. According to Runa Sandvik, privacy and security researcher, the step “marks the first time a [certificate authority]has issued a legitimate SSL certificate for a .onion address.”

Supporting Tor is not the first time Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has helped those of its users wishing for anonymity on the internet. Recently, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) announced that users could log into third party applications on mobile phones anonymously using their Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) account. The social network also reversed an earlier decision to block fake accounts, keeping in mind the drag queen community which was using Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) under pseudonyms.

The new anonymity-supporting resolutions by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) started pouring in after the social network was recently highlighted for allegedly providing user information to the NSA for surveillance purposes, an allegation denied by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) representatives.