Tor is free
Open source software that allows for anonymity and privacy while browsing the
web. Many websites collect website traffic statistics that include your IP
address, location, areas of websites that you visit, the site you came from as
well as the site you go to afterward.
Tor works by improving your security by
making this information from the software on the website that tries to collect
it. This is done by moving all communication through a network of volunteers
around the world so that anyone keeping tabs on a particular internet
connection will be unable to discover your real physical location. Tor is
available for web browsers and instant messengers.
Tor is
especially convenient for bloggers, human rights activists, soldiers and
persons in countries with strict media restrictions or blocked websites. It
also works for persons who are travelling and are trying to access content that
may be blocked outside the United States. The network grows as more persons
volunteer to run relays through which information can be bounced.
How to use Tor
- Download Tor
- Download tor by visiting
torproject.org
- Download Firefox
- Download Firefox if it is not
already installed on the computer (visit Mozilla.com)
- Start Firefox (or restart
Firefox) and enable Tor (there will be an icon button located at the
bottom right of the browser window)
- Browse the web anonymously with
Tor.
Tips and warnings
- It
is recommended that users download Firefox to use Tor
- The
bandwidth necessary to use Tor is paid for by volunteers, it is therefore
recommended that out of consideration, users do not spend time
transferring large amounts of data. (Downloading movies, large files,
streaming videos etc. all consume large amounts of bandwidth)
- Tor
is currently available for the following operating systems:
- Windows Vista, XP, 2000, 2003 Server, Millenium,
98SE,
- Mac
Universal Binary (OSX 10.4 & 10.5)
- PowerPC
Only (OSX 10.3)
- Linux/Unix
Redhat/ CentOS, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE
- Visiting
websites that use Java or flash will expose your identity even if you are
using Tor.
- Browsing
may be slower when using Tor depending on how many persons are using the
network at a time.
- Some
websites will recognize that you are using Tor to mask your identity and
may not allow you to browse their site until you have turned it off. There
isn’t really any way around this, it is the choice of the website owners
especially in instances where the content is protected/ copyrighted or
restricted for use in certain countries etc.
- Free
services that allow browser anonymity will usually go out of business
after a while if funding isn’t coming in. They may also occasionally have
downtime when there are upgrades etc. Other options that will hide your
identity online / hide your IP address include: free VPN, UltraVPN,
Alonweb, CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield.
Charlie
is a free lancer writer and content builder of many Technology sites and he is sharing his
experience regarding how to
use TOR.
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