# Privacy

BitBanana is committed to protecting your privacy. We don’t collect or store any data, so we won't even know if you're using our app. However, if you want to take your privacy a step further, there are extra measures you can consider.

### Tor

BitBanana has built in Tor support. Tor enhances privacy and security by anonymizing internet traffic, making it difficult for third parties to track users' online activities or determine their location. However, this comes at the cost of reduced speed.

To turn on Tor, navigate to the settings, then flip the Tor switch. Now all web requests will be routed through the Tor network without exception.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The Tor switch in the settings does not determine whether the connections to your nodes use Tor. This must be configured separately in the connection settings for each node. \
Furthermore looking up an address or a transaction in a block explorer is not affected by this switch either, as doing so involves opening a link in your browser, not in BitBanana itself.\
The switch only applies to web requests such as fetching the current exchange rate, estimating fees, or interacting with the LNURL protocol.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
If Tor is enabled, exchange rate requests may fail due to Cloudflare blocking traffic from the Tor network. If this is the case for you, consider switching to a different exchange rate provider in the advanced settings.
{% endhint %}

### Exchange rate requests

To display fiat values, BitBanana fetches current exchange rates every 90 seconds by making a request to a web service that may expose your IP address (unless you're using Tor). However, BitBanana never requests the conversion of specific values that could reveal your balances. It only retrieves exchange rates, meaning the only exposed information is: *"IP Address xxx is requesting current exchange rates."*\
\
There are several ways how you can further improve your privacy here:

* If you don't need fiat values, navigate to <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Currencies</mark> and choose only Bitcoin units. From that point on, BitBanana will no longer fetch exchange rate data.
* Enable <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Tor</mark> to hide your IP address.

### Block Explorer

The block explorer allows you to lookup blockchain addresses and transactions. However, when you view a specific transaction, the block explorer (a third-party web service) may potentially collect some information about you.\
It could identify your IP address and track which transactions you’re viewing.

Here are some methods to further protect your privacy:

* &#x20;To hide your IP address, navigate to <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Block Explorer</mark> and choose "Blockstream (v3 Tor)". This solution requires a tor browser on your smartphone.
* Host your own block explorer. In theory this can by any block explorer, but in this example we will setup a [Mempool](https://github.com/mempool/mempool) block explorer.\
  Navigate to  <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Block Explorer</mark> and choose "Custom ...". Then open the custom block explorer settings by going to  <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Custom Block Explorer</mark> .

  * Set "Host" to the address where your hosted Mempool is reachable. E.g. <http://192.168.0.12:8080>
  * Set "Address Suffix" to /address/
  * Set "Transaction Suffix" to /tx/

  Congrats! You can now explore blockchain addresses and transactions securely, with no data exposure.

### Fee Estimation

BitBanana provides fee estimates by regularly sending requests to a web service, potentially exposing your IP address unless using Tor. However, no specific transaction data is involved — it only requests general fee estimates to get the sats/vB required for confirmation within a preferred time frame. The only exposed information is: *"IP Address xxx is requesting current fee estimates."*\
\
There are several ways how you can further improve your privacy here:

* Enable <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Tor</mark> to hide your IP address.
* Host your own fee estimator using [Mempool](https://github.com/mempool/mempool).\
  Navigate to  <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Fee Estimation</mark> and choose "Custom ...". Then open the custom fee estimation settings by going to  <mark style="background-color:orange;">Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Custom Fee Estimation</mark> .
  * Set "Type" to Mempool
  * Set "Host" to the address where your hosted Mempool is reachable. E.g. <http://192.168.0.12:8080>


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