Orbot is a free, open-source Android VPN/proxy app, maintained by the Guardian Project (copyright held by founder Nathan Freitas and The Guardian Project since 2009), that routes other apps' internet traffic through the Tor network to defend against traffic-analysis surveillance. Guardian Project, an open-source initiative launched in 2009, states its website analytics run on Clean Insights, its own self-hosted, privacy-preserving Matomo-based measurement service that strips an extensive list of personal-data query parameters before any tracking occurs. Guardian Project publicly discloses its funders on a dedicated Partners and Funding page — including the Open Technology Fund, the Tor Project, the Filecoin Foundation, NLnet, and a no-strings-attached 2011 Google donation — and states explicitly that none of this funding, including grants that ultimately trace to government sources, has ever shaped its development or led it to add a backdoor. Orbot's own GitHub repository has no published security advisories at draft time. Orbot has collaborated closely with the Tor Project, Inc. — itself a confirmed 501(c)(3) nonprofit since 2006 — since being built as the first Tor proxy for Android in 2009, though Guardian Project's own site does not itself disclose a matching nonprofit registration for Guardian Project as distinct from Tor Project, a distinction noted explicitly below.
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[2026-08-30] · NEW RECEIPTS
8 new sources on file for Orbot.
Orbot's file gained 8 new sourced claims since its last review.
Orbot's own README describes the app as a free VPN and proxy tool that encrypts a user's internet traffic and hides it by routing through Tor's network of relays, to defend against network surveillance known as traffic analysis, with no account, registration, or login system described anywhere in the documentation.
Guardian Project's Partners and Funding page publicly names its grant funders, including the Open Technology Fund, the Tor Project, the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web, NLnet, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and a no-strings-attached 2011 Google donation, and states explicitly that none of this funding, including grants tracing back to government sources, has ever shaped its development plans or led it to add a backdoor.
Orbot's own README copyright notice names Nathan Freitas and The Guardian Project as the copyright holders, dated 2009-2026, directly identifying the individual founder and organization behind the app.
The Tor Project's own History page states The Tor Project, Inc. became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2006; Guardian Project's own site describes only a collaboration with the Tor Project to bring their software to Android, and does not itself state a matching nonprofit registration for Guardian Project as a distinct legal entity.
Orbot's own README states Tor protects a user's privacy by hiding the connection between their internet address and the services they use, the architectural basis for Orbot's claim that no single party, including its own operator, can see both ends of a routed connection.
GitHub's Security Advisories page for the guardianproject/orbot repository states there are no published security advisories for the project, indicating no disclosed vulnerability history at draft time.
Guardian Project's Our Story page states Orbot was the first Tor proxy for Android, built in 2009, and remains one of the most widely used Tor-based mobile apps, helping users in restrictive countries bypass censorship.
Guardian Project's own website loads its analytics from metrics.cleaninsights.org, its self-hosted, privacy-preserving Matomo-based measurement service, Clean Insights, configured with an extensive built-in list of personal-data query parameters (names, addresses, emails, passwords, card numbers, and dozens more) that are automatically excluded before any tracking data is recorded.