Most of the time when I show you an extension for Chrome or Firefox browser, it’s all about what the app can do for you. The Tor Snowflake extension was created to allow you to help others.
What Snowflake does is allow you to help people who live in countries where their Internet access is censored or blocked use the Internet without restrictions. Using a Tor proxy allows someone who is censored to use Snowflake proxies, which are run by volunteers. This means that anyone monitoring Internet traffic will see the IP address of the proxy server and not the actual address of a user who lives somewhere where their access is blocked. Since oppressive regimes sometimes catch on to the IP addresses of TOR servers and block them, this project allows TOR to constantly keep those addresses moving.
For example, a user in China or Iran could use your browser to connect to TOR servers and bypass their Internet restrictions. Authorities in these countries won’t be able to see your IP address. They’ll see a TOR address.
You can go to this link to learn more about how it works: https://snowflake.torproject.org/
To install, just select the link for either the Chrome or Firefox extension.
You’ll be taken to the store for your browser. Just click the installation button.
Once installed, the Snowflake icon will appear at the upper right of your browser.
Click to see if anyone is using your browser and how many people have used it in the past 24 hours. You can always turn it off by toggling the button.
I will caution you that the user’s browser traffic flows through your connection and will take up bandwidth. So, if you have limited connectivity, it’s probably not a good idea.
If you’d prefer to not add an extension, you can follow this link: https://snowflake.torproject.org/embed , enable Snowflake, and leave the browser tab open. However, when you shut the tab, Snowflake will close.
