How Gigablast Works

What is Gigablast?

Gigablast is a Tor encrypted search engine that anonymously routes your search and page visits through the Tor Network. Tor abstracts the complexity of accessing Tor so you can search and surf the web privately with ease. For fully secure browsing please download the Gigablast browser.

What is Tor and how does it work?

The Tor network often referred to as just “Tor,” is a volunteer-run system that helps make internet use more anonymous. When a user is connected to Tor, their outgoing internet traffic is rerouted through a random series of at least three nodes (called relays) before reaching its destination (the website the user wants to visit). Apart from passing through several nodes, the traffic is encrypted, multiple times in fact.

How is the Tor Network different from a VPN?

Gigablast connects you to the Tor network run by thousands of volunteers around the world. Unlike a VPN, there’s no one point of failure or centralized entity you need to trust in order to enjoy the internet privately.

Will my internet experience be any different with Tor?

With all the security and privacy features provided by Tor, your experience while browsing the internet may be a little different. Things may be a bit slower, some elements may not work or load. You may also be asked to prove you are a human and not a robot.

Are you affiliated with the Tor Project?

We do not have any official relationship with The Tor Project. We’re big supporters of the Tor Project and their mission. With Gigablast, we hope to greatly increase the adoption of the Tor Network.

How do I access Onion Links with Gigablast?

Whenever you see a URL ending with .onion, that's a Tor Onion service. Just copy and paste the URL to the Gigablast search box to get access to the website. By default, your standard browsers don't support these kinds of URLs.

What are Onion Links?

Onion services are sites that end with a .onion that provides extra protection to publishers and visitors, including added safeguards against censorship. Onion services allow anyone to provide content and services anonymously.

How does Gigablast protect your Privacy?

When you search and browse with Gigablast, we don’t insert any cookies on your browser that may allow us or anyone else to recognize you or to follow you everywhere on the Internet. We don’t use any tracking devices. We don’t collect and we don’t store any history or your searches. When you enter a search query, it is immediately anonymized. What you search for is your own business. With Gigablast, you gain access to the Tor Network and great search results while your personal data remains private.

Does Gigablast keep logs?

No. We do this to ensure your privacy and protection.

Why doesn’t Gigablast collect any personal data?

It is our philosophy that privacy is a human right. More importantly, if your personal data isn’t collected, it’s impossible to be hacked, demanded from governments, leaked, or abused. .

How does Gigablast ensure anonymous browsing?

When you browse and search with Gigablast, we don't know who you are and there is no way to tie your searches together. When you search, your query is automatically stripped of unnecessary metadata including your IP address and other identifying information. We send the anonymized search queries to our search partners to return the search results to you. We don’t log your searches.

To prevent abuse such as robotic high-volume querying, we anonymously determine the frequency of popular search keywords as a part of our anti-abuse measures, while protecting your privacy.

We don’t record your IP address. The only exception is for automated search requests (robots) that rapidly submit more queries to our servers than any normal human would. When our software detects potential abuse, we register and block the offending IP address in order to keep our service safe and free.

We don’t serve any tracking or identifying cookies. At Gigablast, no cookies are used by default. If you have changed any settings, then cookies are used to store those changes. However, in that case, they are not stored in a personally identifiable way. Gigablast only uses cookies for preferences in order to remember the search preferences you choose. It’s completely anonymous and expires after not visiting Gigablast for 90 days.

What is the Tor Anonymous View Button next to every search result?

Once you click on a search result, you leave our site and our privacy protection. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party sites or services.

This is why we created the “Tor Anonymous View” button that is available next to every search result. When you select to visit search results with the Tor Anonymous View button, you will ensure your privacy through the Tor Network. For each domain you visit, your traffic is relayed and encrypted in a circuit across three Tor relays around the world. No website knows where you are connecting from.

How can I contact Gigablast?

Send us all your ideas, questions, and concern to Email