Trust boundaries
Tunnel'd relies on three kinds of external visibility:
- IP info providers. These providers can see the request used to determine the public IP and return metadata such as country, ISP, or organization.
- The Tunnel'd / ipdia.li DNS leak test service. This service can observe resolver-related requests that reach the test infrastructure and report them back to the app.
- The Android networking stack. Tunnel'd reports what it can observe and what its configured services can observe. It cannot guarantee that Android, a VPN app, or another app never uses a different resolver path outside the observed test flow.
As a consequence:
- Tunnel'd should be used as a measurement tool, not as a guarantee.
- Results are strongest when repeated across different networks, apps, and transition states.
- Users with strict privacy requirements should verify behavior with independent packet capture and resolver-side testing as well.
Contact
For questions or concerns, open an issue at github.com/chmikiro/tunneld.