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A Taiwan-anchored volunteer observatory for networked freedom across the Sinophone (Chinese-speaking) Asia-Pacific.

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Why this site exists

We combine OONI network measurements, Tor relay monitoring, and on-the-ground community context, written by people working inside the region. The site covers Mainland China, Hong Kong & Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Sinophone diaspora.

For general digital safety guidance written for a global audience, well-established English resources include EFF Surveillance Self-Defense, Privacy Guides, and the Tor Project Support Portal, and we link to them rather than duplicating them. What we add is the regional layer those sites are not set up to produce: how a tool behaves in Mainland China versus Taiwan, what a local statute changes about the threat model, and measurement from inside the region. Our introductions to Tor, Tails, OONI, and CryptPad are written with that context built in rather than as generic explainers.

Four ways to use this site

  • Cite our work

    Researchers, journalists, and INGOs looking for regional context on Internet freedom in the Sinophone Asia-Pacific. We run a Tor relay monitoring system across TW / HK / JP / KR (Pulse), an ASN (Autonomous System Number) coverage analysis tool over OONI public data, and have published full Chinese translations of two regional reports (InterSecLab's Geedge / MESA leak and MADLink, both 2025). English regulatory explainers covering Taiwan's data protection overhaul, the Virtual Asset Service Act, and whistleblower protection are published.

    Regional observatory

  • Collaborate with us

    Peer organizations, funders, and AP-based contributors who want to work with a Taiwan-based community on regional measurement, advocacy, or documentation. Existing partnerships (Tor Project, OONI, EFF, university hosts) are listed on the About page.

    Community & contact

  • Find a regional guide

    Diaspora, cross-border travelers, and people whose families remain in less open jurisdictions. Eleven guides are published, covering border crossings, source protection, speaking online from Singapore and Malaysia, and posting on mainland Chinese platforms. The regional context is what global English-language privacy sites do not cover.

    Scenarios

  • Start protecting yourself

    You are not here to cite us or work with us, you just want to know what to actually do. Start with what an ordinary person should change first, then read the tool introductions, each written with the regional context built in.

    What to do first

What we observe

Our standing varies by jurisdiction. We don't claim equal depth across the region; the section below is honest about where we have direct experience versus where we are following, often through second-hand sources. Conceptual frame: Why networked freedom matters.

Where we work from

  • Taiwan

    The community is in Taipei; this is the only jurisdiction where we have direct, first-hand standing. Personal Data Protection Act 2025, the Virtual Asset Service Act (VASP Act) 2026, the whistleblower-protection law's technical aspects, and one of the more open Sinophone connectivity environments that we use as a reference baseline. Most regulatory writing on this site is Taiwan-specific.

  • Taiwan's open-source and civic-tech community

    We are part of the local privacy, anti-surveillance, and open-source conversation in Taiwan, and regularly share observations and project work at COSCUP, g0v hackathons, ETHTaipei, and our own Internet Freedom Coffee meetups. This is where contributors with interest in anonymity and privacy tend to find us, and where we report observations back to a peer audience close to the work.

What we follow closely

  • Mainland China

    Followed through public sources, not first-hand observation. The Great Firewall's filtering and DPI (deep packet inspection) patterns, real-name infrastructure on domestic platforms, content-governance cycles, and the technical export of these systems abroad (the 2025 InterSecLab Geedge / MESA leak is the one report we have translated in full to Chinese).

  • Hong Kong & Macau

    Followed through public sources and contacts in the diaspora. Post-2020 National Security Law civic-space contraction, expansion of iAMSmart electronic identity and integration with HKID, and the cross-strait device-search environment.

What we keep an eye on

  • Singapore

    Lower-priority on the site so far. POFMA, the 2022 Section 377A repeal alongside marriage-definition lock-in, and Singpass as a deeply-integrated real-name layer are the threads we monitor when relevant to a scenario.

  • Malaysia

    Lower-priority on the site so far. Federal Section 377 plus state-level Islamic enforcement (JAIS raids), and reports of dating-app data entering enforcement chains, are the threads we monitor when relevant to a scenario.

Cutting across the above

  • The diaspora & cross-border

    Families and identities that move between the jurisdictions above. Cross-border travel device preparation, return-trip risk, and the metadata of Sinophone family-group chats. Often the most relevant layer for English-preferring readers.

The same tools, different situations

How a tool is used changes a lot with the situation it is used in. These guides start from a specific person and a specific risk, which makes it easier to work out what you need to protect.

  • What an ordinary person should actually do

    No particular exposure, just no wish to be profiled by platforms and ad networks. Starts with the changes that cost the least.

    Everyday baseline

  • Journalists and source protection

    Every stage from first contact to publication can leave something that correlates back to a source. Covers contact, receiving files, and what happens after the story runs.

    Source protection

  • Device minimization and border crossings

    Device inspection at the border, local networks you cannot trust, and cleaning up after you return. Written jurisdiction by jurisdiction across Asia.

    Crossing borders

  • Anonymous donation channels

    A donor who does not want to be traced, an organization that still has to issue receipts. Covers what fundraising and anti-money-laundering rules allow.

    Anonymous donations

Seven more cover activists, election observers, domestic violence survivors, LGBTQ+ readers, speaking online from Singapore and Malaysia, and posting on mainland Chinese platforms. See Scenarios.

Try it hands-on

  • Interactive

    Tor explained through 3D visuals and playable pieces. Walk a three-hop circuit yourself and watch where two streams meet at a rendezvous point.

    Play

  • Utilities

    Small tools that run entirely in your browser and send nothing anywhere. Strip metadata from images, generate a passphrase, check what your connection leaks.

    Use them

Recent updates

Latest

More at Updates.

For a compromised account, money already sent to a scam, a lost device, stalking, or a sudden loss of connectivity, Emergency Help collects what to do first. The helpline numbers on that page are Taiwanese, and it points to the equivalents elsewhere. It does not replace professional help.