Researchers To Release an Anonymous BitTorrent Client

[Guest speedydub]

Researchers at Delft University of Technology have taken up the ambitious challenge of creating a BitTorrent client which secures the privacy of its users. Their Tribler client is already completely decentralized, meaning it will still work even in the event that all BitTorrent sites are shut down. Anonymity is the next big step in its evolution. “We’re going to take Internet privacy to the next level,” the lead researcher says about the upcoming release.

BitTorrent users are increasingly looking for more anonymity but right now their options are limited.

For a monthly fee they can sign up with a VPN or Proxy to hide their IP-address. Free options with decent speeds or without other restrictions aren’t easily available.

This lack of fast, unlimited and free anonymous BitTorrent options is what the Tribler team at Delft University of Technology are hoping to change. Their Tribler Client has been around for more than half a decade already, and during that time it’s developed into the only truly decentralized BitTorrent client out there.

Unlike traditional BitTorrent clients, Tribler does not rely on central servers or third-party sites. Users can search, download and moderate files from within the application itself, based on pure peer to peer communication. Quite a remarkable achievement, but it’s also just the beginning for the research team.

During a talk at the Stanford University this week, Dr. Johan Pouwelse talked about the past and the future of Tribler, announcing the ambitious play to add make BitTorrent transfers more private.

Pouwelse explained that the idea is to add a proxy layer where proxies act as “caches” of content. This can hugely improve downloads speeds, but also makes BitTorrent downloads more private.

Pouwelse said that their goal is to provide all users with the download speed which today can only be found in private BitTorrent communities, combined with the privacy that is currently only offered by paid VPN services

which is great news! What do you people think?