Using Tor Could Help Improve Its Reputation
The term “Tor” conjures up thoughts of the dark web, a realm where one can hire assassins or purchase illegal substances, and is currently heavily monitored by law enforcement to apprehend wrongdoers. However, the truth is far less exciting, yet significantly more reliable in terms of security.
The Onion Router, now called Tor, is a privacy-focused web browser run by a non-profit group. You can download it for free and use it to shop online or browse social media, just like Chrome, Firefox or Safari, but with additional access to unlisted websites ending in .onion. This is what people call the “dark web” because search engines don’t index sites. But these sites are not inherently a criminal enterprise.
“This is not a hacking tool,” said Pavel Zoneff, director of strategic communications at The Tor Project. “It’s as easy to use as any other browser that people are used to.”
It’s true, despite common misconceptions, Tor can be used for any web browsing you normally do. The main difference with Tor is that the network hides your IP address and other system information for complete anonymity. This may sound familiar because this is how many people approach VPNs, but the difference is in the details.
VPNs are just encrypted tunnels that hide your traffic from hop to hop. The company behind the VPN can still use your data, sell it, or pass it on to law enforcement. According to Jed Crandall, an assistant professor at Arizona State University, Tor has no connection between you and your traffic. Tor is built on the “highest layers” of the network and routes your traffic through separate tunnels instead of a single encrypted tunnel. While the first tunnel may know some personal information and the last may know the sites you visit, there is practically nothing connecting these data points, as your IP address and other identifying information are passed from one server to another.
In simpler terms: using regular browsers connects you directly to your traffic, adding a VPN routes data through an encrypted tunnel so your ISP can’t see it, and Tor obfuscates your identity and search traffic until it becomes nearly anonymous. and very difficult to identify.
Using non-indexed websites brings additional benefits such as secure communication. Even if a platform like WhatsApp offers encrypted conversations, if it’s ever scrutinized, there could be traces of the conversation taking place on the device, according to Crandall. Tor communication tunnels are secure and much harder to trace that a conversation ever took place.
Other use cases include keeping the identity of sensitive populations such as undocumented immigrants anonymous, trying to form a union without a business shutting it down, victims of domestic violence seeking resources without the abuser finding out, or, as Crandall said, the desire to embarrass. Google searches without relevant targeted ads will follow you forever.
However, the added layers of security can cause additional inconveniences, such as lag or longer loading times. This may be true for some users depending on what they do online, but anecdotally it has become much faster in recent years, with users saying they barely notice the difference compared to other browsers. Sameer Patil, an assistant professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, investigated this by asking students and staff to try Tor as their main browser. “I was personally very surprised at how many sites and things worked well in the Tor browser. So not only did they work as intended, but they were also fast enough,” Patil said.
But even if online privacy isn’t a top concern personally, using Tor can help support industries that rely heavily on it. By using an anonymous and secure browser, Patil says, you’re supporting activists, journalists and everyone else’s privacy, because the more people use it, the safer it becomes. If only certain sensitive groups use it, it is easier to de-anonymize and ultimately trace identities. When you use that one in a billion it becomes almost impossible.
