Facebook introduces encryption for Internet.org

After opening its Internet.org platform for developers in May, Facebook demanded that any service using it transmit data without encryption. After five months, the situation has changed - now encryption can be used without any problems, and millions of users from developing countries will be able to work with services like Twitter, using encryption.

Part of the mission of Internet.org is to create a free platform for developing countries' web services. Thanks to cooperation with various telecom operators, the platform provides users with free access to some network services. Internet.org does not charge anything. At the same time, some fans of the concept of network neutrality have already criticized this state of affairs, arguing that such applications have a huge advantage over conventional competing programs.


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How it works?

Interntet.org here works as a proxy between the user and the Global Network, compressing traffic for efficiency, and cutting off many third-party data requests. In principle, it is the proxy concept that makes it impossible to implement end-to-end web encryption. Instead, the platform functions as a two-part system, encrypting all web traffic between the user and its servers. Then the traffic is transferred to the host with any encryption requirements. By the way, access encryption is available for Android applications Internet.org, which appeared in June. At the output, we have strong encryption in the public network, but Internet.org has access to all the data that is transmitted through the service.

At the same time, Internet.org does not store the personal data of users. The new policy of the platform provides for storing only the domain name and the amount of data that was consumed by the user, as well as information about the client device. Data collection system is not going to engage.

Thus, the new system gives internet.org users a reliable way to connect to their servers, with encryption of all transmitted and received data. The platform now meets the needs of about a billion people in 19 different countries. Of the new countries, South Africa, Senegal and Bolivia are worth mentioning, where Internet.org was launched in the summer.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, any service can connect to Internet.org if desired. Now in the catalog of services and applications of Internet.org there is already a relatively large number of participants, among which, of course, Facebook.

What is Internet.org?

The project itself was introduced by the head of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, two years ago. Other companies took part in the project, including Ericsson, Qualcomm, Samsung and Opera. The main mission of the project is to provide access to the Network for 4 billion people who are not yet connected to the Earth. It is clear that this applies mainly to the poorest regions.

In addition, Facebook implements other projects, for example - the development of a network of unmanned aerial vehicles, which literally distribute the Internet. These drones have already been tested and proven to work. The drone can be in the air at an altitude of about 20 kilometers for several months (due to the energy received from solar panels located on the body of the device).