Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook, Inc. is not celebrated for its privacy policies or keeping user information safe from third parties. But even if people are practically giving away their life to advertisers, they still continue to use Facebook, probably because they think there’s no true way to socialize while keeping their privacy.

Good news is, there is now a way for you to use Facebook without all your actions being tracked. Facebook welcomed the dark net by providing official support for Tor via https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/. Prior to Facebook’s official support, using Tor on the popular social network would flag the user as a hacked account, and communication between Tor and Facebook wouldn’t stay encrypted. With this new support, the communication between Tor and Facebook remains encrypted, giving users the option of using the service without giving away all their other information, such as their current location.

“It’s not so much protecting people from governments, but protecting from people who are spying on communications – that could be anyone from criminals to marketers,” said Dr Steven Murdoch, from University College London, who Facebook consulted for the project.

If you want to go dark, or at least keep some of your information to yourself, follow the steps below on how you can start enjoying Facebook + Tor.

How to install and use Tor (for Windows)

First go to this link to download the Tor browser https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

Save the downloaded file either on your desktop or a USB stick if you really wish to cover your track.

It needs at least 80MB of free disk space in the location you select.

Double click on the file when it finishes downloading, click ‘RUN’, choose a language, then click OK.

Wait until the installer finishes then click FINISH to launch the Tor browser wizard.

When the Tor browser wizard pops up, click on CONNECT. Another way for you to launch the Tor browser is by going to the Tor Browser folder on your desktop, USB stick or whatever location you’ve saved it, and double click on the Start Tor Browser application.

When the Tor browser is ready it will automatically open and you can now start browsing securely.

To use the anonymized version of Facebook, go to https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/ using your Tor browser.

After you’re done using Tor, close any open Tor Browser windows. The list of web pages visited and any cookies will be deleted.

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for Mac and Linux users

For Mac users, download the file and save it wherever you please. Click on it and add the .dmg file inside your Applications folder and you will have a Tor Browser application in your chosen language that you can pin on your Dock.

And for Linux users, you can find the full instructions here https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en#linux.

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