Our Story
Guardian Project is an open-source initiative dedicated to developing secure, privacy-enhancing mobile applications and tools. Launched in 2009, we were born out of a need to protect digital communications in an era of increasing surveillance, censorship, and cyber threats. Over the years, we have provided essential tools for activists, journalists, and everyday users who value privacy and security.
Origins and Mission
In the late 2000s, smartphones were becoming widely adopted, but security and privacy were largely overlooked. At the same time, governments and corporations were ramping up surveillance, putting sensitive communications at risk. A group of technologists and digital rights advocates saw the urgent need to create accessible, open-source mobile security tools.
Nathan of Guardian Project on FLOSS Weekly
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Guardian Project was founded with the goal of providing secure, user-friendly privacy apps for Android devices, enabling people worldwide to communicate and browse the internet without fear of surveillance or censorship. Now we have expanded that work to all platforms of computing and communication – iPhone, desktops, servers, clouds, and even off-grid networks.
Key Innovations and Contributions
Guardian Project has developed a suite of tools that focus on secure communications, anonymous browsing, and media protection. Some of our most influential projects include:
2009: Circumvention on Mobile
Orbot was the first Tor proxy for Android, allowing users to browse the internet anonymously by routing traffic through the Tor network. Orbot remains one of the most widely used Tor-based mobile apps, helping users in restrictive countries bypass censorship.
2010: Encrypted Chat
An encrypted messaging app that supported Off-the-Record (OTR) encryption over XMPP. It became an essential tool for journalists and activists before end-to-end encrypted messaging (like Signal) became mainstream. Signal also incorporates aspects of ChatSecure, such as the SQLCipher encrypted database, App Icon camouflage, and QR Codes for easy onboarding.
2011: Visual Privacy
A privacy-focused camera app that lets users blur faces and remove metadata from images, helping activists and journalists protect identities when sharing sensitive content.
2013: SmartCAMERAs for Evidence
Proofmode (CameraV, InformaCam) tool designed to capture secure, verifiable media. It adds cryptographic signatures to photos and videos, ensuring authenticity and helping to combat misinformation. It was a major influence of the C2PA standard.
2017: Smartphones as Sensors
Haven was a physical security app that turns an Android phone into a motion, sound, and vibration detector, alerting users to potential intrusions in physical spaces. It was co-developed with Edward Snowden to help protect human rights defenders and journalists.
2011: Encrypted Databases
Guardian Project team led the initial port and design of Zetetic's SQLCipher to Android, an encrypted database layer on top of SQLite. This code has been used by over 6000 apps, including Signal and WeChat.
2012: Encrypted Calls
Ostel was a secure VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service, enabling encrypted phone calls using open protocols including the ZRTP encryption protocol.
2015: Open App Stores
Guardian Project has been a longtime supporter of and participant in the work on F-Droid. F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications, as well as open-source infrastructure for anyone to host their own app repository or complete app store.
Real-World Impact
Over the years, Guardian Project’s tools have been used in high-risk environments worldwide:
Journalists Under Pressure
Use Orbot and Convene to communicate safely in authoritarian regimes, while gathering verifiable evidence with Proofmode.
Protesters and Activists
Use ObscuraCam to anonymize footage of demonstrations, protecting identities, while running a ButterBox to communicate during a shutdown.
Election Monitors and Human Rights Defenders
Setup a secure help-desk with CDR Links to allow for people to ask for help and report election interference over Signal, PGP Email, Telegram, WhatsApp and more.
Users in Censored Countries
Rely on Orbot and Onion Browser to bypass internet restrictions and access free information in Iran, China, Russia, and beyond, and download apps freely from F-Droid.
Our work has also influenced larger privacy movements, inspiring improvements in mobile security across major platforms.
Collaborations and Influence
Guardian Project has worked alongside major digital rights organizations, including:
- Tibet Action Institute – Fighting advanced censorship and surveillance
- The Tor Project – on Orbot and censorship circumvention
- WITNESS – visual privacy and media provenance
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – on privacy advocacy
- Freedom of the Press Foundation – on journalist safety tools
- The Open Technology Fund – supporting anti-censorship tools
- Center for Digital Resilience – secure help desk services
Additionally, elements of our work have influenced mainstream privacy tools, pushing platforms like Google and Apple to improve their own security features.
The Future
While many of our early projects remain active, Guardian Project continues to explore new frontiers in digital privacy:
Decentralized Communications
Shutdown-resistant communications through Butter Box
Content Provenance
Authentication and verification through Proofmode
Anti-Censorship
Global infrastructure through Bypass Censorship
As governments, corporations, and hackers evolve their surveillance tactics, Guardian Project remains a critical force in digital freedom, ensuring that people everywhere have access to secure, open-source privacy tools.
Guardian Project stands as one of the most impactful efforts in mobile security and digital rights. By focusing on open-source, user-friendly, and accessible tools, we have helped millions stay safe online and protect their personal freedoms. Our original vision has not only shaped the mobile security landscape but has also inspired countless other privacy initiatives.