Controlling the flow of information is a critical tool in the arsenal of despots, dictators and authoritarian regimes. Some countries want to block a handful of internet sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) while others exert an almost inconceivable stranglehold on the internet (think Iran). 

When we think of censorship, the typical list that comes to mind is North Korea, Iran, China and Cuba. The list is much more worrisome than that and includes countries such as Bahrain, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates and more. Other countries typically offer an open internet to their population except during major events like Egypt during the spring uprising. 

Enter Psiphon

Psiphon is a Canadian company that started at the Citizen Lab intending to design censorship busting technology. It is an open-source tool designed to allow citizens living in restrictive regimes to access "forbidden content easily." The basic version of Psiphon that is free for everyone forever without requiring is account is speed limited to 2Mb/s. You can earn (by watching promo advertising videos) or buy PsiCash, which allows you to unlock faster speeds for a certain amount of time (up to 5Mb/s).

Earning PsiCash

As an example, watching a 30-second video ad earns you 35 PsiCash. You can watch about 5 in a row (earning you 150 PsiCash). You can exchange 100 PsiCash for 1 hour of "speed boost."

This is likely how citizens of repressive regimes would use the tool. If you are willing to spend cash via the Google Play store, you can buy 1000 PsiCash for $0.99CAD (10 hours of "speed boost"), 5000 PsiCash for $4,99CAD (50 hours of "speed boost"), etc. Every chuck of "speed boost" you buy starts counting down once you activate it.

If you want a more traditional monthly subscription with unlimited use, you can opt for a recurring subscription.

Or you can opt for an onetime pass unlimited use pass (if you are travelling to one of the regions that censors the internet)

Who are these monthly recurring subscriptions for? They are for regions where the population is much better off (think Saudi Arabia) or for users that work in environments where undesirable internet sites are blocked (e.g. corporations, universities, etc).

DNS Leak Tests

I conducted a bunch of DNS Leak tests on Windows & Android and didn't detect any leaks. On some tests, Google DNS servers did show up but these were proxies by Psiphon so your confidentiality is protected. 

Different App Versions

You can download Psiphon from the Google Play Store, from the Apple AppStore, from their website (for Android or Windows).
 
If you send an empty email to [email protected], they will respond with an automated response listing different AWS URLs you can download the client from. The purpose of this option is to make the download available from cloud providers that are typically allowed. 

Some news-oriented newspapers blocked in certain regions recommend you use Psiphon to access them (BBC, The Intercept, etc.). These sites even set up the same type of email download link response service, to help you find Psiphon easier (e.g. The Intercept set up [email protected]).

Most platforms offer 2 versions of the Psiphon app (basic and Pro). The basic version is the all free version, capped at 2Mb/s and it comes with small ads.

The Pro version seems to have more prominent ads but offers the option to have them removed if you buy a monthly subscription. 

The subscription and "speed boost" pricing is only available in the app, and pricing is region-specific (The high-speed monthly subscription seems to be $9.99USD/$14.99CAD/£9.99.) 

Last year Psiphon offered a 30 day trial for the subscription but has now lowered the trial to 7 days. 

Ease of use

Once you install the app, you can immediately start the speed-limited service. It does not require any type of registration. This lack of red tape speeds up the process but also means any PsiCash you buy is bound to that device and that particular installation. If you clear the app cache or reinstall the app (even on the same device), you PsiCash is gone.

During my initial test, I sideloaded the app on Android and wasn’t shown ads during use. That behaviour may change, so your mileage may vary. The Google Play versions I installed did show me ads.

You will notice a **Stats** menu option in the previous image; this shows you how much data you have uploaded and downloaded. This is less of a concern in industrialized regions, but many developing countries have expensive data plans. This **stats** option aims to help users make smarter data usage choices.

How secure is Psiphon?

This article will not be a technical evaluation discussion about their security; however, you should read this section to ensure you understand what it does and what it does not. Psiphon is, first and foremost, a censorship busting tool. It uses a variety of technologies to ensure they can bust through most of the time. They combine different technologies like always changing server IPs, a series of cascading protocols (SSH, VPN, handshake obfuscation, etc.) and other anti fingerprinting techniques.

These work excessively well. A buddy in China installed the Android version and freely accessed restricted sites (consistently over a test period of a week). All traffic from your device to the Psiphon servers is always encrypted, and they don't log any personally identifiable information. The last piece is that the software is open-source and can be inspected by anyone.

This service is NOT a replacement for other more common western VPNs like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, ProtonVPN, etc. Psiphon does a much better job of breaking through censorship controls. Still, it does not offer all of the privacy-protecting tools that traditional VPNs do (CyberSec DNS from Nord or the ability to control where you exit the network).

Psiphon does not claim to increase your privacy because they don't protect you from website fingerprinting, beacons on the web or other privacy destroying techniques.

Psiphon shares aggregated information with its commercial partners.

Use Psiphon is you need to break censorship controls.

If you need strong privacy, go TOR (TOR does not work in most censoring regions).

Conclusion

I read a ton of discussions about Psiphon on different social media sites from people claiming to in repressive regimes. Even with the fact it is slow, clunky and not the most beautiful app, it provides a critical service that nothing else seems to offer.

Most users benefit from the free version, and Psiphon doesn't have an army of support people waiting to chat with you or respond to your emails.

If you are in a country that controls the internet, try TOR first. If it doesn't work, then jump to Psiphon.

If you live in one of the western countries where we enjoy relatively unfettered access to the internet, you would be better served by a traditional VPN service.