tor-webwml.git

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en/whousestor.wml   4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Who uses Tor?"
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en/torusers.wml     6) # Note to translators: this file is still under construction, and
en/torusers.wml     7) # will probably change a whole lot before we link to it. So it's
en/torusers.wml     8) # probably best to not translate it yet.
en/torusers.wml     9) 

en/whousestor.wml  10) <div class="main-column">
en/whousestor.wml  11) 
en/whousestor.wml  12) <h1>Who uses Tor?</h1>
en/whousestor.wml  13) <hr />
en/whousestor.wml  14) 

en/whousestor.wml  15) <p>

en/whousestor.wml  16) We're still writing this page; please <a href="<page

en/whousestor.wml  17) contact>">send us</a> your fixes, comments, and stories!
en/whousestor.wml  18) </p>
en/whousestor.wml  19) 
en/whousestor.wml  20) <p>

en/whousestor.wml  21) Tor provides anonymity: when it succeeds, nobody notices.  This is
en/whousestor.wml  22) great for users, but not so good for us, since publishing success
en/whousestor.wml  23) stories about how people or organizations are staying anonymous could be
en/whousestor.wml  24) counterproductive.
en/whousestor.wml  25) As an example, we talked

en/whousestor.wml  26) to an FBI officer who explained that he uses Tor every day for his
en/whousestor.wml  27) work — but he quickly followed up

en/whousestor.wml  28) with a request not to provide details or mention his name.
en/whousestor.wml  29) </p>
en/whousestor.wml  30) 
en/whousestor.wml  31) <p>So while each story below represents actual users we've talked to,
en/whousestor.wml  32) we've done our best to anonymize them when appropriate.
en/whousestor.wml  33) </p>
en/whousestor.wml  34) 
en/whousestor.wml  35) <hr />
en/whousestor.wml  36) 

en/whousestor.wml  37) <h2>People use Tor every day to...</h2>

en/whousestor.wml  38) 
en/whousestor.wml  39) <ul>

en/whousestor.wml  40) <li>...protect their privacy from unscrupulous marketers</li>

en/whousestor.wml  41) 
en/whousestor.wml  42) <p>Anonymity helps defeat marketing that doesn't have your permissions.
en/whousestor.wml  43) There are all kinds of unscrupulous marketing techniques that track your

en/whousestor.wml  44) activity

en/whousestor.wml  45) to build marketing databases, often selling your private information

en/whousestor.wml  46) without your permission.  Tor, used appropriately,
en/whousestor.wml  47) helps defeat many of these violations

en/whousestor.wml  48) of your privacy.</p>
en/whousestor.wml  49) 

en/whousestor.wml  50) <li>...protect their children online</li>

en/whousestor.wml  51) 
en/whousestor.wml  52) <p>&ldquo;I'm proud my mom and dad let me stay alone at home now.&rdquo;
en/whousestor.wml  53) You've told your kids they shouldn't share personally identifying
en/whousestor.wml  54) information online, but they may be sharing their location simply

en/whousestor.wml  55) by not concealing their IP address.  Increasingly, IP

en/whousestor.wml  56) addresses can be literally mapped to street locations, and in the US the

en/whousestor.wml  57) government is pushing to get this mapping closer and closer to 
en/whousestor.wml  58) street addresses.
en/whousestor.wml  59) </p>

en/whousestor.wml  60) 
en/whousestor.wml  61) <li>...research sensitive topics</li>
en/whousestor.wml  62) 

en/whousestor.wml  63) <p>There's a wealth of information available online.   But perhaps in your 

en/whousestor.wml  64) country, access to information on AIDS, birth control, Tibetan culture,

en/whousestor.wml  65) or world religions is behind a national firewall.
en/whousestor.wml  66) Or perhaps you are worried that if you research a particular set of
en/whousestor.wml  67) symptoms, at some later date an insurance company might buy the 
en/whousestor.wml  68) logs of the websites you visited and establish that
en/whousestor.wml  69) you had suspicions of a pre-existing condition.
en/whousestor.wml  70) </p>

en/whousestor.wml  71) 

en/whousestor.wml  72) <li>...see how the rest of the world lives</li>

en/whousestor.wml  73) 

en/whousestor.wml  74) <p>Tor allows you to see the World Wide
en/whousestor.wml  75) Web from a different perspective.  Want to see Google come up in Polish?
en/whousestor.wml  76) If you leave the Tor cloud at a Polish Tor relay, you'll see what

en/whousestor.wml  77) Poland sees online.  Want to check the differential pricing offered by
en/whousestor.wml  78) an online retailer or wholesaler to folks in another country, compared

en/whousestor.wml  79) to the pricing offered to you or your company?  Tor can
en/whousestor.wml  80) provide that window to the world.</p>

en/whousestor.wml  81) 
en/whousestor.wml  82) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml  83) 
en/whousestor.wml  84) <h2>Journalists use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml  85) 
en/whousestor.wml  86) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml  87) 
en/whousestor.wml  88) <li>Reporters without Borders</li>
en/whousestor.wml  89) 

en/whousestor.wml  90) <p><a href="http://www.rsf.org/">Reporters without Borders</a> advises

en/whousestor.wml  91) journalists, sources, bloggers, and dissidents online to use Tor to
en/whousestor.wml  92) ensure their privacy.  RSF tracks internet prisoners of conscience and
en/whousestor.wml  93) jailed or harmed journalists all over the world.</p>
en/whousestor.wml  94) 
en/whousestor.wml  95) <li>IBB/Voice of America/Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Asia</li>
en/whousestor.wml  96) 

en/whousestor.wml  97) <p>The US <a href="http://www.ibb.gov/">International Broadcasting

en/whousestor.wml  98) Bureau</a> supports Tor development to help Internet users in countries

en/whousestor.wml  99) where they can't get

en/whousestor.wml 100) safe access to free media.  Tor not only protects freedom of expression,
en/whousestor.wml 101) but preserves the ability of persons behind national firewalls or under
en/whousestor.wml 102) the surveillance of repressive regimes to view information that gives
en/whousestor.wml 103) a global perspective on democracy, economics, religion, and other vital
en/whousestor.wml 104) topics to a full global perspective on culture.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 105) 
en/whousestor.wml 106) <li>Reporters in sensitive locations</li>
en/whousestor.wml 107) 
en/whousestor.wml 108) <p>Reporters in sensitive environments can use Tor to be more secure in
en/whousestor.wml 109) filing their stories.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 110) 
en/whousestor.wml 111) <li>sources</li>
en/whousestor.wml 112) 
en/whousestor.wml 113) <p>Journalists' sources often use Tor to report sensitive information,
en/whousestor.wml 114) or to discuss items with journalists from sensitive locations.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 115) 
en/whousestor.wml 116) <li>whistleblowers</li>
en/whousestor.wml 117) 
en/whousestor.wml 118) <p>Likewise, whistleblowers use Tor to safely leave tips on governmental
en/whousestor.wml 119) and corporate malfeasance.
en/whousestor.wml 120) 
en/whousestor.wml 121) <li>citizen journalism</li>
en/whousestor.wml 122) 

en/whousestor.wml 123) <p>Citizen journalists in China and other &ldquo;Internet black

en/whousestor.wml 124) holes” use Tor to write about local events and to encourage social
en/whousestor.wml 125) change and political reform, more secure that there will not be a knock
en/whousestor.wml 126) on their door at midnight.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 127) 
en/whousestor.wml 128) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 129) 
en/whousestor.wml 130) <h2>Human rights workers use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 131) 
en/whousestor.wml 132) <p>Reporting human rights violations from within their country of origin
en/whousestor.wml 133) is a task for peaceful warriors.  It takes courage and a good eye to risk
en/whousestor.wml 134) mitigation.  Human rights activists use Tor to anonymously report from
en/whousestor.wml 135) danger zones.  Internationally, labor rights workers use Tor and other
en/whousestor.wml 136) forms of online and offline anonymity to organize workers in accordance
en/whousestor.wml 137) with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Are they within the law?
en/whousestor.wml 138) But, does that mean they are safe?</p>
en/whousestor.wml 139) 
en/whousestor.wml 140) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml 141) 
en/whousestor.wml 142) <li>Human Rights Watch</li>
en/whousestor.wml 143) 
en/whousestor.wml 144) <p>In their report &ldquo;Race to the Bottom: Corporate
en/whousestor.wml 145) Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship,&rdquo; a study

en/whousestor.wml 146) co-author interviewed Roger Dingledine, Tor project leader,

en/whousestor.wml 147) on Tor use.  They cover Tor in the section on how to breach the <a
en/whousestor.wml 148) href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm#_Toc142395820">&ldquo;Great
en/whousestor.wml 149) Firewall of China &rdquo;</a></p>
en/whousestor.wml 150) 

en/whousestor.wml 151) <p><a href="http://hrw.org/doc/?t=internet">Human Rights Watch</a>
en/whousestor.wml 152) recommends Tor for human rights workers throughout

en/whousestor.wml 153) the globe for &ldquo;secure browsing and communications.&rdquo;</p>
en/whousestor.wml 154) 
en/whousestor.wml 155) <li>Amnesty International</li>
en/whousestor.wml 156) 
en/whousestor.wml 157) <p>Tor has consulted and volunteered help to Amnesty International's

en/whousestor.wml 158) recent corporate responsibility campaign at
en/whousestor.wml 159) <a href="http://irrepressible.info/">http://irrepressible.info/</a>.
en/whousestor.wml 160) See also their <a
en/whousestor.wml 161) href="http://irrepressible.info/static/pdf/FOE-in-china-2006-lores.pdf">full
en/whousestor.wml 162) report</a> on China Internet issues.</p>

en/whousestor.wml 163) 
en/whousestor.wml 164) <li>Global Voices</li>
en/whousestor.wml 165) 
en/whousestor.wml 166) <p>Global Voices can't stop recommending Tor throughout their <a

en/whousestor.wml 167) href="http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.globalvoicesonline.org+tor">

en/whousestor.wml 168) web site.</a></p>
en/whousestor.wml 169) 
en/whousestor.wml 170) <li>10% for corruption</li>
en/whousestor.wml 171) 
en/whousestor.wml 172) <p>A contact of ours who works with a public health nonprofit in
en/whousestor.wml 173) Africa reports that his nonprofit must budget 10% to cover various
en/whousestor.wml 174) sorts of corruption, mostly bribes and such.  When that percentage
en/whousestor.wml 175) rises steeply, not only can they not afford the money, but they can

en/whousestor.wml 176) not afford to complain — this is the point at which open objection can

en/whousestor.wml 177) become dangerous.  So his nonprofit has been working to use

en/whousestor.wml 178) Tor to safely whistleblow on governmental corruption in order to continue
en/whousestor.wml 179) their work more effectively and safely.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 180) 
en/whousestor.wml 181) <li>Labor organizers in the US and overseas</li>
en/whousestor.wml 182) 
en/whousestor.wml 183) <p>At a recent conference a Tor staffer ran into a woman who came from

en/whousestor.wml 184) a “company town” in a mountainous area of the

en/whousestor.wml 185) eastern United States. She was attempting to blog anonymously to rally

en/whousestor.wml 186) local residents to urge reform on the company that dominated the town's

en/whousestor.wml 187) economic and governmental affairs, fully cognizant that the kind of
en/whousestor.wml 188) organizing she was doing could lead to harm or “fatal
en/whousestor.wml 189) accidents.&rdquo;</p>
en/whousestor.wml 190) 
en/whousestor.wml 191) <p>In east Asia, some labor organizers use anonymity to reveal information
en/whousestor.wml 192) regarding sweatshops that produce goods for western countries and to
en/whousestor.wml 193) organize local labor.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 194) 
en/whousestor.wml 195) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 196) 
en/whousestor.wml 197) <h2>People with high profile community roles use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 198) 
en/whousestor.wml 199) <p>Does being in the public spotlight shut you off from having a private
en/whousestor.wml 200) life, forever, online?  A rural lawyer in a small New England state keeps
en/whousestor.wml 201) an anonymous blog because, with the diverse clientele at his prestigious
en/whousestor.wml 202) law firm, his political beliefs are bound to offend someone.  Yet, he
en/whousestor.wml 203) doesn't want to remain silent on issues he cares about.  Tor helps him
en/whousestor.wml 204) feel secure that he can express his opinion without consequences to his
en/whousestor.wml 205) public role.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 206) 
en/whousestor.wml 207) <h2>Poor people use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 208) 
en/whousestor.wml 209) <p>People living in poverty often don't participate fully in civil society
en/whousestor.wml 210) -- not out of ignorance or apathy, but out of fear.  If something you
en/whousestor.wml 211) write were to get back to your boss, would you lose your job?  If your
en/whousestor.wml 212) social worker read about your opinion of the system, would she treat
en/whousestor.wml 213) you differently?  Anonymity gives a voice to the voiceless.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 214) 
en/whousestor.wml 215) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml 216) 
en/whousestor.wml 217) <li>VISTA grant</li>
en/whousestor.wml 218) 
en/whousestor.wml 219) <p>Tor has an open Americorps/VISTA position.  This
en/whousestor.wml 220) government grant will cover a full time stipend for a volunteer to create
en/whousestor.wml 221) curricula to show low-income populations how to use anonymity online for
en/whousestor.wml 222) safer civic engagement.  Although it's often said that the poor do not use
en/whousestor.wml 223) online access for civic engagment, failing to act in their self-interests,
en/whousestor.wml 224) it is our hypothesis (based on personal conversations and anecdotal
en/whousestor.wml 225) information) that it is precisely the &ldquo;permanent record &rdquo;
en/whousestor.wml 226) left online that keeps many of the poor from speaking out on the Internet.
en/whousestor.wml 227) Where speaking out on social programs or job related issues might seem
en/whousestor.wml 228) in their enlightened self interest, they see things closer to home.
en/whousestor.wml 229) The boss or social worker or educational advisor virtually looking over
en/whousestor.wml 230) their shoulder could put a fragile situation into a tailspin.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 231) 
en/whousestor.wml 232) <p>We hope to show people how to more safely engage online, and then at
en/whousestor.wml 233) the end of the year, evaluate how online and offline civic engagement has
en/whousestor.wml 234) changed, and how the population sees this continuing in clear channels
en/whousestor.wml 235) and anonymously into the future.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 236) 
en/whousestor.wml 237) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 238) 
en/whousestor.wml 239) <h2>People who care about privacy, in general, increasingly use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 240) 
en/whousestor.wml 241) <p>In the section below on recent media mentions of Tor, it becomes
en/whousestor.wml 242) clear that the recent revelation of users' browsing patterns by AOL has
en/whousestor.wml 243) piqued the conscience of the everyday Internet surfer in more privacy.
en/whousestor.wml 244) All over the net, Tor is being recommended to people newly concerned
en/whousestor.wml 245) about their privacy in the face of increasing breaches and betrayals of
en/whousestor.wml 246) private data.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 247) 
en/whousestor.wml 248) <h2>Soldiers in the field use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 249) 
en/whousestor.wml 250) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml 251) 
en/whousestor.wml 252) <li>Field agents</li>
en/whousestor.wml 253) 
en/whousestor.wml 254) <p>How much, do you imagine, would the Iraqi insurgency pay to find out
en/whousestor.wml 255) the location of every computer in Baghdad that logged into a military
en/whousestor.wml 256) server in Maryland to read email?  Tor can protect military personnel in
en/whousestor.wml 257) the field by hiding their location, and even by concealing the location
en/whousestor.wml 258) of Command and Control servers.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 259) 
en/whousestor.wml 260) <li>Hidden services</li>
en/whousestor.wml 261) 
en/whousestor.wml 262) <p>When the Internet was designed by DARPA, its primary purpose was to
en/whousestor.wml 263) be able to facilitate distributed, robust communications in case of
en/whousestor.wml 264) local strikes.  However, some functions must be centralized, such as
en/whousestor.wml 265) command and control sites.  It's the nature of the Internet protocols to
en/whousestor.wml 266) reveal the geographic location of any server that is reachable online,
en/whousestor.wml 267) however Tor's hidden services capacity allows military command and
en/whousestor.wml 268) control to be physically secure from discovery and takedown.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 269) 

en/whousestor.wml 270) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 271) 

en/whousestor.wml 272) <h2>Law enforcement officers use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 273) 

en/whousestor.wml 274) <p>Undercover officers use Tor to conceal their IP address during

en/whousestor.wml 275) sting operations. “Anonymous tip lines” may still

en/whousestor.wml 276) preserve a log of IP addresses, if the informant isn't using Tor.</p>

en/whousestor.wml 277) 
en/whousestor.wml 278) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml 279) 
en/whousestor.wml 280) <li>online surveillance</li>
en/whousestor.wml 281) 
en/whousestor.wml 282) <p>Tor allows officials to surf questionable web sites and services
en/whousestor.wml 283) without leaving tell-tale tracks.  If the system administrator of an
en/whousestor.wml 284) illegal gambling site, for example, were to see multiple connections from
en/whousestor.wml 285) governmental or law enforcement computers in usage logs, investigations
en/whousestor.wml 286) would be hampered.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 287) 
en/whousestor.wml 288) <li>sting operations</li>
en/whousestor.wml 289) 
en/whousestor.wml 290) <p>Similarly, anonymity allows law officers to engage in online
en/whousestor.wml 291) &ldquo;undercover &rdquo; operations.  Regardless of how good an
en/whousestor.wml 292) undercover officer's &ldquo;street cred&rdquo; may be, if his or her
en/whousestor.wml 293) email headers include nypd.nyc.ny.state.us, his or her cover is blown.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 294) 
en/whousestor.wml 295) <li>truly anonymous tip lines</li>
en/whousestor.wml 296) 
en/whousestor.wml 297) <p>While online anonymous tip lines are popular, without anonymity
en/whousestor.wml 298) software, they are far less useful.  Sophisticated sources understand that
en/whousestor.wml 299) although a name or email address is not attached to information, server
en/whousestor.wml 300) logs can identify them very quickly.  As a result, tip line web sites that
en/whousestor.wml 301) do not encourage anonymity are limiting the sources of their tips.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 302) 

en/whousestor.wml 303) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 304) 

en/whousestor.wml 305) <h2>Whistleblowers use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 306) 
en/whousestor.wml 307) <p>In the US, the Supreme Court recently stripped legal protections from
en/whousestor.wml 308) government whistleblowers.  But whistleblowers working for governmental
en/whousestor.wml 309) transparency or corporate accountability can use Tor to seek justice
en/whousestor.wml 310) without personal repercussions.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 311) 
en/whousestor.wml 312) <h2>Bloggers use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 313) 
en/whousestor.wml 314) <p>Every day we hear about bloggers who are sued or fired for saying
en/whousestor.wml 315) perfectly legal things online, in their blog.  In addition to following
en/whousestor.wml 316) the guidelines of EFF's Guide and RSF's guide, we recommend using Tor.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 317) 
en/whousestor.wml 318) <h2>Citizens of repressive regimes use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 319) 
en/whousestor.wml 320) <p>Whether to read information on censored topics (such as AIDS, Tibet,
en/whousestor.wml 321) or democracy), or to write about controversial topics, people inside
en/whousestor.wml 322) oppressive regimes can risk life and livelihood.  Tor helps cover the
en/whousestor.wml 323) tracks of dissidents, foreign nationals, or even just people who want
en/whousestor.wml 324) free accesss to information most of us take for granted.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 325) 
en/whousestor.wml 326) <h2>People organizing for change use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 327) 
en/whousestor.wml 328) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml 329) <li>union organizers/labor activists</li>
en/whousestor.wml 330) 
en/whousestor.wml 331) See mentions above
en/whousestor.wml 332) 
en/whousestor.wml 333) <li>democracy activists/dissidents</li>
en/whousestor.wml 334) 
en/whousestor.wml 335) See mentions above
en/whousestor.wml 336) 
en/whousestor.wml 337) <li>peace/green activists</li>
en/whousestor.wml 338) 
en/whousestor.wml 339) <p>When groups such as the Friends Service Committee and environmental
en/whousestor.wml 340) groups are increasingly falling under surveillance in the United States
en/whousestor.wml 341) under laws meant to protect against terrorism, many peaceful agents of
en/whousestor.wml 342) change rely on Tor for basic privacy for legitimate activities.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 343) 
en/whousestor.wml 344) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 345) 
en/whousestor.wml 346) <h2>Business executives use Tor</h2>
en/whousestor.wml 347) <ul>
en/whousestor.wml 348) 
en/whousestor.wml 349) <li>security breach information clearinghouses</li>
en/whousestor.wml 350) 
en/whousestor.wml 351) <p>Say a financial institution participates in a security clearinghouse
en/whousestor.wml 352) of information on Internet attacks.  Such a repository requires members
en/whousestor.wml 353) to report breaches to a central group, who correlates attacks to detect
en/whousestor.wml 354) coordinated patterns and send out alerts.  But if a specific bank in
en/whousestor.wml 355) St. Louis is breached, they don't want an attacker watching the incoming
en/whousestor.wml 356) traffic to such a repository to be able to track where information is
en/whousestor.wml 357) coming from.  Even though every packet were encrypted, the Internet
en/whousestor.wml 358) address would betray the location of a compromised system.  Tor allows
en/whousestor.wml 359) such repositories of sensitive information to resist compromises.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 360) 
en/whousestor.wml 361) <li>seeing your competition as your market does</li>
en/whousestor.wml 362) 
en/whousestor.wml 363) <p>If you try to check out a competitor's pricing, you may find no
en/whousestor.wml 364) information or misleading information on their web site.  This is because
en/whousestor.wml 365) their web server may be keyed to detect connections from competitors,
en/whousestor.wml 366) and block or spread disinformation to your staff.  Tor allows a business
en/whousestor.wml 367) to view their sector as the general public would view it.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 368) 
en/whousestor.wml 369) <li>keeping strategies confidential</li>
en/whousestor.wml 370) 
en/whousestor.wml 371) <p>An investment bank, for example, might not want industry snoopers to be
en/whousestor.wml 372) able to track what web sites their analysts are watching.  The strategic
en/whousestor.wml 373) importance of traffic patterns, and the vulnerability of the surveillance
en/whousestor.wml 374) of such data, is starting to be more widely recognized in several areas
en/whousestor.wml 375) of the business world.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 376) 

en/whousestor.wml 377) <li>accountability</li>

en/whousestor.wml 378) 
en/whousestor.wml 379) <p>In an age when irresponsible and unreported corporate activity has
en/whousestor.wml 380) undermined multi-billion dollar businesses, an executive exercising true
en/whousestor.wml 381) stewardship wants the whole staff to feel free to disclose internal
en/whousestor.wml 382) malfeasance.  Tor facilitates internal accountability before it turns
en/whousestor.wml 383) into whistleblowing.</p>
en/whousestor.wml 384) 

en/whousestor.wml 385) </ul>
en/whousestor.wml 386) 

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en/whousestor.wml 388)