tor-webwml.git

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4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Who uses Tor?"
5) 
6) <div class="main-column">
7) 
8) <h1>Who uses Tor?</h1>
9) <hr />
10) 
11) <h2>People like you use Tor every day to...</h2>
12) 
13) <ul>

14) <li>...protect their privacy from marketers</li>

15) 
16) <p>Anonymity helps defeat marketing that doesn't have your permissions.
17) There are all kinds of unscrupulous marketing techniques that track your
18) activity through cookies, web bugs, and malware by using your IP address
19) to build marketing databases, often selling your private information

20) without your permission.  Tor helps defeat many of these violations

21) of your privacy.</p>
22) 
23) <li>...preserve their kids' safety online</li>
24) 
25) <p>&ldquo;I'm proud my mom and dad let me stay alone at home now.&rdquo;
26) You've told your kids they shouldn't share personally identifying
27) information online, but they may be sharing their location simply
28) by not concealing their IP address from predators.  Increasingly, IP

29) addresses can be literally mapped to street locations, and in the US the

30) government is pushing to get this mapping closer and closer to your
31) street address.  What if a predator heard your child was alone, and
32) called up the satellite view of your address to find the best approach
33) from the back of the property?</p>
34) 
35) <li>...research sensitive topics</li>
36) 
37) <p>There's a wealth of information available online.   Perhaps, in your
38) country, access to information on AIDS, birth control, Tibetan culture,
39) or world religions may be restricted inside a national firewall.
40) Or perhaps are you afraid that if you research a particular set of
41) symptoms, at some later date an insurance company could establish that

42) you had suspicions of a pre-existing condition.  Want to research airline

43) security statistics or animal rights without the risk that your national
44) security authorities are going to think you are a terrorist? </p>
45) 
46) <li>...find out how other folks live</li>
47) 

48) <p>Tor allows you to see the World Wide
49) Web from a different perspective.  Want to see Google come up in Polish?
50) If you leave the Tor cloud at a Polish Tor relay, you'll see what

51) Poland sees online.  Want to check the differential pricing offered by
52) an online retailer or wholesaler to folks in another country, compared

53) to the pricing offered to you or your company?  Tor can
54) provide that window to the world.</p>

55) 
56) </ul>
57) 
58) <h2>Journalists use Tor</h2>
59) 
60) <ul>
61) 
62) <li>Reporters without Borders</li>
63) 

64) <p><a href="http://www.rsf.org/">Reporters without Borders</a> advises

65) journalists, sources, bloggers, and dissidents online to use Tor to
66) ensure their privacy.  RSF tracks internet prisoners of conscience and
67) jailed or harmed journalists all over the world.</p>
68) 
69) <li>IBB/Voice of America/Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Asia</li>
70) 

71) <p>The US <a href="http://www.ibb.gov/">International Broadcasting
72) Bureau</a> is supporting Tor development Internet users in countries
73) that can't get

74) safe access to free media.  Tor not only protects freedom of expression,
75) but preserves the ability of persons behind national firewalls or under
76) the surveillance of repressive regimes to view information that gives
77) a global perspective on democracy, economics, religion, and other vital
78) topics to a full global perspective on culture.</p>
79) 
80) <li>Reporters in sensitive locations</li>
81) 
82) <p>Reporters in sensitive environments can use Tor to be more secure in
83) filing their stories.</p>
84) 
85) <li>sources</li>
86) 
87) <p>Journalists' sources often use Tor to report sensitive information,
88) or to discuss items with journalists from sensitive locations.</p>
89) 
90) <li>whistleblowers</li>
91) 
92) <p>Likewise, whistleblowers use Tor to safely leave tips on governmental
93) and corporate malfeasance.
94) 
95) <li>citizen journalism</li>
96) 

97) <p>Citizen journalists in China and other &ldquo;Internet black

98) holes” use Tor to write about local events and to encourage social
99) change and political reform, more secure that there will not be a knock
100) on their door at midnight.</p>
101) 
102) </ul>
103) 
104) <h2>Human rights workers use Tor</h2>
105) 
106) <p>Reporting human rights violations from within their country of origin
107) is a task for peaceful warriors.  It takes courage and a good eye to risk
108) mitigation.  Human rights activists use Tor to anonymously report from
109) danger zones.  Internationally, labor rights workers use Tor and other
110) forms of online and offline anonymity to organize workers in accordance
111) with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Are they within the law?
112) But, does that mean they are safe?</p>
113) 
114) <ul>
115) 
116) <li>Human Rights Watch</li>
117) 
118) <p>In their report &ldquo;Race to the Bottom: Corporate
119) Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship,&rdquo; a study

120) co-author interviewed Roger Dingledine, Tor project leader,

121) on Tor use.  They cover Tor in the section on how to breach the <a
122) href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm#_Toc142395820">&ldquo;Great
123) Firewall of China &rdquo;</a></p>
124) 

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

127) the globe for &ldquo;secure browsing and communications.&rdquo;</p>
128) 
129) <li>Amnesty International</li>
130) 
131) <p>Tor has consulted and volunteered help to Amnesty International's

132) recent corporate responsibility campaign at
133) <a href="http://irrepressible.info/">http://irrepressible.info/</a>.
134) See also their <a
135) href="http://irrepressible.info/static/pdf/FOE-in-china-2006-lores.pdf">full
136) report</a> on China Internet issues.</p>

137) 
138) <li>Global Voices</li>
139) 
140) <p>Global Voices can't stop recommending Tor throughout their <a

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

142) web site.</a></p>
143) 
144) <li>10% for corruption</li>
145) 
146) <p>A contact of ours who works with a public health nonprofit in
147) Africa reports that his nonprofit must budget 10% to cover various
148) sorts of corruption, mostly bribes and such.  When that percentage
149) rises steeply, not only can they not afford the money, but they can
150) not afford to complain -- this is the point at which open objection can

151) become dangerous.  So his nonprofit has been working to use

152) Tor to safely whistleblow on governmental corruption in order to continue
153) their work more effectively and safely.</p>
154) 
155) <li>Labor organizers in the US and overseas</li>
156) 
157) <p>At a recent conference a Tor staffer ran into a woman who came from

158) a “company town” in a mountainous area of the

159) eastern United States. She was attempting to blog anonymously to rally

160) local residents to urge reform on the company that dominated the town's

161) economic and governmental affairs, fully cognizant that the kind of
162) organizing she was doing could lead to harm or “fatal
163) accidents.&rdquo;</p>
164) 
165) <p>In east Asia, some labor organizers use anonymity to reveal information
166) regarding sweatshops that produce goods for western countries and to
167) organize local labor.</p>
168) 
169) </ul>
170) 
171) <h2>People with high profile community roles use Tor</h2>
172) 
173) <p>Does being in the public spotlight shut you off from having a private
174) life, forever, online?  A rural lawyer in a small New England state keeps
175) an anonymous blog because, with the diverse clientele at his prestigious
176) law firm, his political beliefs are bound to offend someone.  Yet, he
177) doesn't want to remain silent on issues he cares about.  Tor helps him
178) feel secure that he can express his opinion without consequences to his
179) public role.</p>
180) 
181) <h2>Poor people use Tor</h2>
182) 
183) <p>People living in poverty often don't participate fully in civil society
184) -- not out of ignorance or apathy, but out of fear.  If something you
185) write were to get back to your boss, would you lose your job?  If your
186) social worker read about your opinion of the system, would she treat
187) you differently?  Anonymity gives a voice to the voiceless.</p>
188) 
189) <ul>
190) 
191) <li>VISTA grant</li>
192) 
193) <p>Tor has an open Americorps/VISTA position.  This
194) government grant will cover a full time stipend for a volunteer to create
195) curricula to show low-income populations how to use anonymity online for
196) safer civic engagement.  Although it's often said that the poor do not use
197) online access for civic engagment, failing to act in their self-interests,
198) it is our hypothesis (based on personal conversations and anecdotal
199) information) that it is precisely the &ldquo;permanent record &rdquo;
200) left online that keeps many of the poor from speaking out on the Internet.
201) Where speaking out on social programs or job related issues might seem
202) in their enlightened self interest, they see things closer to home.
203) The boss or social worker or educational advisor virtually looking over
204) their shoulder could put a fragile situation into a tailspin.</p>
205) 
206) <p>We hope to show people how to more safely engage online, and then at
207) the end of the year, evaluate how online and offline civic engagement has
208) changed, and how the population sees this continuing in clear channels
209) and anonymously into the future.</p>
210) 
211) </ul>
212) 
213) <h2>People who care about privacy, in general, increasingly use Tor</h2>
214) 
215) <p>In the section below on recent media mentions of Tor, it becomes
216) clear that the recent revelation of users' browsing patterns by AOL has
217) piqued the conscience of the everyday Internet surfer in more privacy.
218) All over the net, Tor is being recommended to people newly concerned
219) about their privacy in the face of increasing breaches and betrayals of
220) private data.</p>
221) 
222) <h2>Soldiers in the field use Tor</h2>
223) 
224) <ul>
225) 
226) <li>Field agents</li>
227) 
228) <p>How much, do you imagine, would the Iraqi insurgency pay to find out
229) the location of every computer in Baghdad that logged into a military
230) server in Maryland to read email?  Tor can protect military personnel in
231) the field by hiding their location, and even by concealing the location
232) of Command and Control servers.</p>
233) 
234) <li>Hidden services</li>
235) 
236) </ul>
237) 
238) <p>When the Internet was designed by DARPA, its primary purpose was to
239) be able to facilitate distributed, robust communications in case of
240) local strikes.  However, some functions must be centralized, such as
241) command and control sites.  It's the nature of the Internet protocols to
242) reveal the geographic location of any server that is reachable online,
243) however Tor's hidden services capacity allows military command and
244) control to be physically secure from discovery and takedown.</p>
245) 
246) <h2>Law enforcement officers use Tor</h2>
247) 

248) <p>Undercover officers use Tor to conceal their IP address during

249) sting operations. “Anonymous tip lines” may still

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

251) 
252) <ul>
253) 
254) <li>online surveillance</li>
255) 
256) <p>Tor allows officials to surf questionable web sites and services
257) without leaving tell-tale tracks.  If the system administrator of an
258) illegal gambling site, for example, were to see multiple connections from
259) governmental or law enforcement computers in usage logs, investigations
260) would be hampered.</p>
261) 
262) <li>sting operations</li>
263) 
264) <p>Similarly, anonymity allows law officers to engage in online
265) &ldquo;undercover &rdquo; operations.  Regardless of how good an
266) undercover officer's &ldquo;street cred&rdquo; may be, if his or her
267) email headers include nypd.nyc.ny.state.us, his or her cover is blown.</p>
268) 
269) <li>truly anonymous tip lines</li>
270) 
271) <p>While online anonymous tip lines are popular, without anonymity
272) software, they are far less useful.  Sophisticated sources understand that
273) although a name or email address is not attached to information, server
274) logs can identify them very quickly.  As a result, tip line web sites that
275) do not encourage anonymity are limiting the sources of their tips.</p>
276) 

277) </ul>
278) 

279) <h2>Whistleblowers use Tor</h2>
280) 
281) <p>In the US, the Supreme Court recently stripped legal protections from
282) government whistleblowers.  But whistleblowers working for governmental
283) transparency or corporate accountability can use Tor to seek justice
284) without personal repercussions.</p>
285) 
286) <h2>Bloggers use Tor</h2>
287) 
288) <p>Every day we hear about bloggers who are sued or fired for saying
289) perfectly legal things online, in their blog.  In addition to following
290) the guidelines of EFF's Guide and RSF's guide, we recommend using Tor.</p>
291) 
292) <h2>Citizens of repressive regimes use Tor</h2>
293) 
294) <p>Whether to read information on censored topics (such as AIDS, Tibet,
295) or democracy), or to write about controversial topics, people inside
296) oppressive regimes can risk life and livelihood.  Tor helps cover the
297) tracks of dissidents, foreign nationals, or even just people who want
298) free accesss to information most of us take for granted.</p>
299) 
300) <h2>People organizing for change use Tor</h2>
301) 
302) <ul>
303) <li>union organizers/labor activists</li>
304) 
305) See mentions above
306) 
307) <li>democracy activists/dissidents</li>
308) 
309) See mentions above
310) 
311) <li>peace/green activists</li>
312) 
313) <p>When groups such as the Friends Service Committee and environmental
314) groups are increasingly falling under surveillance in the United States
315) under laws meant to protect against terrorism, many peaceful agents of
316) change rely on Tor for basic privacy for legitimate activities.</p>
317) 
318) </ul>
319) 
320) <h2>Business executives use Tor</h2>
321) <ul>
322) 
323) <li>security breach information clearinghouses</li>
324) 
325) <p>Say a financial institution participates in a security clearinghouse
326) of information on Internet attacks.  Such a repository requires members
327) to report breaches to a central group, who correlates attacks to detect
328) coordinated patterns and send out alerts.  But if a specific bank in
329) St. Louis is breached, they don't want an attacker watching the incoming
330) traffic to such a repository to be able to track where information is
331) coming from.  Even though every packet were encrypted, the Internet
332) address would betray the location of a compromised system.  Tor allows
333) such repositories of sensitive information to resist compromises.</p>
334) 
335) <li>seeing your competition as your market does</li>
336) 
337) <p>If you try to check out a competitor's pricing, you may find no
338) information or misleading information on their web site.  This is because
339) their web server may be keyed to detect connections from competitors,
340) and block or spread disinformation to your staff.  Tor allows a business
341) to view their sector as the general public would view it.</p>
342) 
343) <li>keeping strategies confidential</li>
344) 
345) <p>An investment bank, for example, might not want industry snoopers to be
346) able to track what web sites their analysts are watching.  The strategic
347) importance of traffic patterns, and the vulnerability of the surveillance
348) of such data, is starting to be more widely recognized in several areas
349) of the business world.</p>
350) 

351) <li>accountability</li>

352) 
353) <p>In an age when irresponsible and unreported corporate activity has
354) undermined multi-billion dollar businesses, an executive exercising true
355) stewardship wants the whole staff to feel free to disclose internal
356) malfeasance.  Tor facilitates internal accountability before it turns
357) into whistleblowing.</p>
358) 

359) </ul>
360)