There's no arguing the convenience of a well-placed wireless network when you're not at home, and many businesses around the world are discovering the benefits of offering a free connection to their consumers for this very reason. While some of us may do the work to ensure our home networks deliver a specific experience, when you're out and about those networks are usually maintained at a corporate or local government level. That means you don't make the rules, and not every problem can be solved by switching on a VPN.
The Tor Project has a new tool to help you be better educated when it comes to the networks you use with your phone, and it has one of the sillier names you'll see today.
Ooniprobe is designed to test the network you are currently on and give you as much information as possible. This starts with basic network performance information, but also includes detection tools for censorship and surveillance methods that may exist on the network. If this network doesn't allow you to reach a certain kind of website, or separately tracks your activity while on the network, Ooniprobe reveals this information to you and offers strategies for circumvention.
This app also publishes all of the data you collect on the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) Explorer site, which allows third parties to independently verify and analyze it. As expected from The Tor Project, this app is not only free but open source. Enjoy!
