Over the next several weeks, the U.S. State Department is rolling out what appears to be a kind of virtual private network (VPN), although the “privacy-preserving app” is not called a VPN in a Fox News report (February 20, 2026).
The website or platform for the app, freedom.gov, at present simply says “Freedom Is Coming. Information is power. Reclaim your human right to free expression. Get ready.” The word “freedom,” being graphically obscured, must be inferred.
[Freedom.gov] will operate as a one-click desktop and mobile application compatible with iOS and Android devices.
The app is open-source and includes built-in anonymity protections.
The initiative comes as governments worldwide tighten control over digital speech, from China’s “Great Firewall” to sweeping internet shutdowns in Iran and new regulatory regimes in Europe. U.S. officials say Freedom.gov is designed to offer a technological counterweight—exporting what they describe as America’s open internet model to users living under censorship.
“In the interest of total transparency, we made Freedom.gov completely open-source. But we also made it completely anonymous,” a State Department official said. “Anyone can see how it works. No one, including us, can track or identify you.”
According to the official, the application does not log IP addresses, session data, browsing activity, DNS queries or device identifiers that could be used to personally identify users.
Specific details about the app’s underlying technical structure were not disclosed.
We’ll have to see how it works. First, whether it works at all; then, whether it works better than or at least as well as top VPNs that charge for their services. Will it, as Fox News asks, be able to “adapt to countermeasures”? Early adopters in certain countries may have to pay a heavy price if Freedom.gov is not all that it should be.
Since the app is open-source, the current U.S. administration or future administrations would presumably have no way to embed spyware without being caught. A hypothetical anti-privacy administration could then only fail to maintain the app or shut it down.
