Freenet

Overview

Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication and publishing. Unlike Tor or I2P which focus on real-time anonymous communication, Freenet is designed for storing and retrieving data in a distributed, encrypted manner.

Core Principles

Distributed Storage: Data is split across many nodes
Plausible Deniability: Node operators don't know what they store
Redundancy: Popular content is replicated automatically
Persistence: Data survives as long as it's requested
Anonymous Publishing: Authors remain unidentifiable

How Freenet Works

Data Storage

When you insert content into Freenet:

Content is encrypted with its own content hash
Split into small chunks
Distributed across multiple nodes
Automatically replicated based on popularity

Key Types

CHK

Content Hash Key

Immutable content identified by its cryptographic hash. The same content always produces the same key.

SSK

Signed Subspace Key

Mutable content that can be updated by the owner. Uses asymmetric cryptography for signing.

USK

Updateable Subspace Key

Extension of SSK that automatically finds the latest version of content.

Operating Modes

Opennet Mode

Connects to any available node in the network. Easier to set up but provides less anonymity as your node's existence is public.

Darknet Mode

Only connects to nodes you explicitly trust. Provides stronger anonymity but requires knowing other Freenet users. This is the recommended mode for maximum security.

🔒

Friend-to-Friend: Darknet mode creates a true friend-to-friend network where traffic only flows between people who know each other, making traffic analysis extremely difficult.

Freesites

Freesites are static websites hosted on Freenet. They are accessed through the Freenet proxy and can contain HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other static files.

Characteristics

Static content only (no server-side processing)
Anonymous authorship
Censorship-resistant hosting
Updateable via USK keys
Content survives as long as it's requested

Applications

Frost/FMS

Anonymous message boards

Forums

Freemail

Decentralized email

Email

File Sharing

Distributed file storage

Storage

Publishing

Censorship-resistant blogs

Content