Guardian Firewall

Guardian Firewall is a computer program that helps protect people's privacy on phones and computers. It stops companies from tracking where people go and what they do online. The program works on iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, Android phones, Windows computers, and Fire tablets.

History
Guardian Firewall was started in 2013 by Will Strafach. Strafach is a computer security expert who used to work on iPhone hacking.

In 2017, Strafach found out that a popular weather app called AccuWeather was secretly sending people's location to other companies. The people using the app did not know this was happening.

The Guardian Firewall app became available to everyone in June 2019. It first came out for iPhones and iPads. Later, the app was made for other devices too.

In August 2022, a company called DNSFilter bought Guardian. Guardian still works as its own app. DNSFilter added new security features to help protect users better.

How it works
Guardian Firewall sends all internet data from your device through a secure tunnel. This tunnel is called a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The data goes to Guardian's computers.

Guardian's computers look at the data. They find companies that are trying to track you. Guardian stops these trackers from getting your information. Your apps and websites still work the same way.

The app blocks three main things:
 Location trackers (things that follow where you go)
 Email trackers (things that watch when you open emails)
 Data trackers (things that collect information about you)

Guardian also hides your internet data using encryption. This means other people cannot see what you are doing online.

Users can see a list of all the trackers that Guardian blocked. They can also choose to allow some apps or websites to work without the firewall if they want.

Privacy
Guardian says it does not keep records of what people do online. It does not save information about which websites people visit or when they use the app.

In 2024, a security company called Assured checked Guardian's systems. They wanted to make sure Guardian really does protect privacy the way it says it does.

Brave Browser
In July 2020, Guardian started working with Brave. Brave makes a web browser (a program for looking at websites) and a search engine (a tool that helps you look up information online).

Guardian's firewall was built into the Brave browser. This means people using Brave can turn on Guardian's protection. It protects all the apps on their phone or computer, not just the browser.

This feature works on iPhones, Android phones, Mac computers, and Windows computers.

What people say about it
Technology writer Glenn Fleishman said Guardian was a new way to protect privacy on phones. He wrote that it was different because it blocks trackers on Guardian's computers instead of on your phone.

Security expert Kenn White said the partnership with Brave was important. He said it would help stop companies from tracking people online.

In 2020, Guardian was featured on the show Lockdown.

Technology blogger John Gruber said Guardian was easy to use. He called it "set it and forget it," meaning you turn it on once and it keeps working.

By 2022, Guardian said it had blocked more than 5 billion data trackers and 1 billion location trackers.

References

Other websites
 Official website

Category:Internet