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Use this app to surf safely around the internet

Use this app to surf safely around the internet

Vote: (35 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Max Lv

Version: 5.2.6

Works under: Android

Also available for Windows

Vote:

Program license

(35 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Max Lv

5.2.6

Works under:

Also available for

Android

Windows

Pros

  • Allows user access to censored information on the internet
  • Offers high security guarantees and location encryption
  • Easy to port from github to your local machine

Cons

  • Won't completely secure user's private data against external sources
  • May be illegal to use in some countries with censorship policies
  • May slow down user's device, similar to most other proxy services

Shadowsocks is an open source, completely free application that has been most commonly used in continental China to avoid internet censorship measures enacted by the government.

Through providing an encrypted proxy, users are able to obfuscate the location of their IP address and find information available in other countries.

Created by a Chinese programmer in 2012, the software opens a socks5 proxy on the local machine, which then works to direct internet traffic toward the device. Similarly to an SSH tunnel, the proxy sets up an encrypted connection between two communicating devices that allows devices to share information with each other.

Unfortunately, in 2015, the creator announced that they would be taking down the proxy service since they had been contacted by the police. Before this, the Shadowsocks application was available on Github for three uninterrupted years.

Despite this removal, several clones of the Shadowsocks project have popped up on Chinese-owned Github accounts for years. Chinese government officials have continued to enact take downs and DDoS attacks on the Github site for the past three years.

Implementations of Shadowsocks that still exists provide a high performance, highly secure connection to a proxy server. If you're looking to bypass restricted sites in your country, make sure to take a look at the Shadowsocks application.

However, there are some downsides to the proxy server. Depending on the age of your operating system, the proxy may slow down the operation of your device and your network. Additionally, it will not provide complete anonymity against malicious actors or government officials.

Pros

  • Allows user access to censored information on the internet
  • Offers high security guarantees and location encryption
  • Easy to port from github to your local machine

Cons

  • Won't completely secure user's private data against external sources
  • May be illegal to use in some countries with censorship policies
  • May slow down user's device, similar to most other proxy services