Online privacy has never not been an important topic. Since the birth of the internet as a commercial concept, safety has been a core conceptual concern; the information superhighway was a gateway to hitherto unimagined levels of interpersonal connection – for better and for worse. Today, the concept is the most important of them all, as increasingly sophisticated methods of data scraping, cyber-scamming and otherwise fraudulent activities target the average internet user.
As companies increasingly close the net on the ‘net, too, it’s hard not to find yourself volunteering data you didn’t want to volunteer. Browsing habits, online purchases, dwell-times on websites and even your location are all valuable resources to private enterprise, and we’re often handing such resources over wholesale without ever fully knowing. Online privacy is a right, and one you need to enforce with your own two hands. One key way to do that is with Tor.
What Is The Tor Browser?
The Tor browser is one of the most famous privacy-focused browsers going. Put simply, it is a web browser application that enables you to access the Internet much like popular browsers Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari (sorry, Microsoft Edge). The difference, though, is how it connects you to webpages.
Where conventional browsers are quite ‘open’ with respect to your data – readily telling domain hosts all sorts of data, including where you are and what device you’re using – Tor obfuscates your IP address by passing information through multiple different nodes. It also encrypts data relating to your browser activity, and deletes tracking cookies so companies can’t follow any future browsing behaviour.
How Tor Supports Privacy Online
But how, exactly, does this support your online privacy? Well, the information Tor prevents domains, networks and other web users from purloining your personal information, browsing data and other confidential items. At least, without considerable extra effort.
One other key USP for the Tor browser is the access it enables to the so-called ‘dark web’ – a subsection of the internet hosted directly within Tor’s network as opposed to on the wider web. Onion sites are preternaturally safer to navigate with respect to privacy, and, despite the dark web’s reputation as a clandestine den of untoward online behaviour, it is home to official and uniquely private onion-site versions of the Guardian, Facebook and more.
Limitations and Safety Considerations
As useful as the Tor browser is for online safety, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all panacea for your personal privacy. Your activity on the internet can make it easier for ne’er-do-wells to circumvent the safety features you put in place. Filling in online forms can de-anonymise your online presence entirely, making it easier to track you despite not having your own IP. Tor isn’t bulletproof, either; larger agencies can, with some effort, crack protections in order to track your behaviour. As a private individual, this is an unlikely outcome – but hopefully illustrates that online privacy is a multifaceted issue.
