tor-webwml.git

@@ -14,13 +14,19 @@ can link to, please <a href="<page contact>">send us</a> a note!</p>

 <p>Tor provides anonymity: when it succeeds, nobody notices.  This is

 great for users, but not so good for us, since publishing success

 stories about how people or organizations are staying anonymous could be

-counterproductive.  As an example, we talked to an FBI officer who explained that he uses Tor every day for his

+counterproductive.  For example, we talked to an FBI officer who explained that he uses Tor every day for his

 work &mdash; but he quickly followed up with a request not to provide details or mention his name.</p>

-<p> Like any technology, from pencils to cellphones, anonymity can be used for both good and evil.  You have probably seen some of the vigorous debate

+<p> Like any technology, from pencils to cellphones, anonymity can be

+used for both good and bad.  You have probably seen some of the vigorous debate

 (<a href="http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2006/01/70000">pro</a>,

 <a href="http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_4.html#kelly">con</a>,

 and <a href="http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/anon.html">academic</a>)

-over anonymity. The Tor project is based on the belief that anonymity is not just a good idea some of the time - it is a requirement for a free and functioning society. The <a href="http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity">EFF has a good overview</a> of how anonymity was crucial to the founding of the United States and has been recognized by US courts as a fundamental and important right. In fact, governments mandate anonymity in many cases themselves:

+over anonymity. The Tor project is based on the belief that anonymity is

+not just a good idea some of the time - it is a requirement for a free

+and functioning society. The <a

+href="http://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity">EFF maintains a good overview</a>

+of how anonymity was crucial to the founding of the United States.

+Anonymity is recognized by US courts as a fundamental and important right. In fact, governments mandate anonymity in many cases themselves:

 <a href="https://www.crimeline.co.za/default.asp">police tip lines</a>,

 <a href="http://www.texasbar.com/Content/ContentGroups/Public_Information1/Legal_Resources_Consumer_Information/Family_Law1/Adoption_Options.htm#sect2">adoption services</a>,

 <a href="http://writ.news.findlaw.com/aronson/20020827.html">police officer identities</a>,

@@ -35,9 +41,12 @@ you have better options than Tor. While not dismissing the potential abuses of T

 <ul>

 <li><strong>They protect their privacy from unscrupulous marketers and identity thieves.</strong>

 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/29449-compete-ceo-isps-sell-clickstreams-for-5-a-month">

-sell your Internet browsing records</a> to marketers or anyone else willing to pay for it. They typically say that 

-they anonymize it by not providing your username or personally identifiable information, but

-<a href="http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2006/08/71579?currentPage=all">this is a farce</a>.

+sell your Internet browsing records</a> to marketers or anyone else

+willing to pay for it. ISPs typically say that 

+they anonymize the data by not providing personally identifiable information, but

+<a

+href="http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2006/08/71579?currentPage=all">this

+has proven incorrect</a>.

 A full record of every site you visit, the text of every search you perform, and potentially 

 userid and even password information can still be part of this data.  In addition to your ISP, the websites (<a href="http://www.google.com/privacy_faq.html">and search engines</a>) you visit have their own logs, containing the same or more information.

 </li>

@@ -50,7 +59,7 @@ your data is often not well protected by those you are supposed to trust to keep

 <li><strong>They protect their children online.</strong>

 You've told your kids they shouldn't share personally identifying information online, but they may be sharing their location simply

 by not concealing their IP address. Increasingly, IP addresses can be <a href="http://whatismyipaddress.com/">literally mapped to a city or even street location</a>, and can <a href="http://whatsmyip.org/more/">reveal other information</a> about how you are connecting to the Internet.

-In the United States the government is pushing to make this mapping increasingly precise.

+In the United States, the government is pushing to make this mapping increasingly precise.

 </li>

 <li><strong>They research sensitive topics.</strong>

 There's a wealth of information available online. But perhaps in your country, access to information on AIDS, birth control,

@@ -68,18 +77,15 @@ Tor was originally designed, implemented, and deployed as a third-generation oni

 Laboratory, and was originally developed by and for the U.S. Navy for the primary purpose of protecting government communications.

 </li>

 <li><strong>Hidden services:</strong>

-When the Internet was designed by DARPA, its primary purpose was to

-be able to facilitate distributed, robust communications in case of

-local strikes.  However, some functions must be centralized, such as

-command and control sites.  It's the nature of the Internet protocols to

-reveal the geographic location of any server that is reachable online.

-Tor's hidden services capacity allows military command and

+When the Internet was designed by DARPA, its primary purpose was to be able to facilitate distributed, robust communications in case of

+local strikes.  However, some functions must be centralized, such as command and control sites.  It's the nature of the Internet protocols to

+reveal the geographic location of any server that is reachable online.  Tor's hidden services capacity allows military command and

 control to be physically secure from discovery and takedown.

 </li>

 <li><strong>Intelligence gathering:</strong>

-Military personnel need to use electronic resources run and monitored

-by insurgents. Obviously, they do not want the server logs on an insurgent

-website to show a military address, revealing their surveillance.

+Military personnel need to use electronic resources run and monitored by

+insurgents. They do not want the webserver logs on an insurgent website

+to record a military address, thereby revealing the surveillance.

 </li>

 </ul>

@@ -95,10 +101,14 @@ safe access to free media.  Tor preserves the ability of persons behind national

 the surveillance of repressive regimes to obtain a global perspective on controversial topics including democracy,

 economics and religion.

 </li>

-<li>Although we often think of foreign journalists working in far off lands,

-<strong>citizen journalists in China and other <a href="http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554">Internet black holes</a>

-use Tor to write about local events</strong> and to encourage social change and political reform, more secure that there will not be a knock

-on the door at midnight.

+<li><strong>Citizen journalists in China</strong> use Tor to write about

+local events to encourage social change and political reform.

+</li>

+<li><strong>Citizens and journalists in <a

+href="http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554">Internet black

+holes</a></strong> use Tor to research state propoganda and opposing

+viewpoints, to file stories with non-State controlled media, and to

+avoid risking the personal consequences of intellectual curiosity.

 </li>

 </ul>

@@ -108,14 +118,14 @@ on the door at midnight.

 Tor allows officials to surf questionable web sites and services

 without leaving tell-tale tracks.  If the system administrator of an

 illegal gambling site, for example, were to see multiple connections from

-governmental or law enforcement computers in usage logs, investigations

-would be hampered.

+government or law enforcement IP addresses in usage logs, investigations

+may be hampered.

 </li>

 <li><strong>Sting operations:</strong>

 Similarly, anonymity allows law officers to engage in online

 “undercover ” operations.  Regardless of how good an

-undercover officer's “street cred” may be, if his or her

-email headers include nypd.nyc.ny.state.us, his or her cover is blown.

+undercover officer's “street cred” may be, if the 

+communications include nypd.nyc.ny.state.us, the cover is blown.

 </li>

 <li><strong>Truly anonymous tip lines:</strong>

 While online anonymous tip lines are popular, without anonymity

@@ -156,7 +166,7 @@ See also their <a href="http://irrepressible.info/static/pdf/FOE-in-china-2006-l

 report</a> on China Internet issues.

 </li>

 <li><a href="http://www.globalvoicesonline.org">Global Voices</a>

-can't stop recommending Tor, especially for <strong>anonynomous blogging</strong>,

+recommends Tor, especially for <strong>anonynomous blogging</strong>,

 throughout their <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.globalvoicesonline.org+tor">

 web site.</a>

 </li>

@@ -170,12 +180,12 @@ Africa reports that his nonprofit <strong>must budget 10% to cover various sorts

 mostly bribes and such.  When that percentage rises steeply, not only can they not afford the money, but they can

 not afford to complain — this is the point at which open objection can

 become dangerous.  So his nonprofit has been working to

-<strong>use Tor to safely whistleblow on governmental corruption</strong> in order to continue their work.

+<strong>use Tor to safely whistleblow on government corruption</strong> in order to continue their work.

 </li>

 <li>At a recent conference, a Tor staffer ran into a woman who came from

 a “company town” in the eastern United States. She was attempting to blog anonymously to rally

-local residents to <strong>urge reform on the company</strong> that dominated the town's

-economic and governmental affairs, fully cognizant that the kind of

+local residents to <strong>urge reform in the company</strong> that dominated the town's

+economic and government affairs. She is fully cognizant that the kind of

 organizing she was doing <strong>could lead to harm or &ldquo;fatal

 accidents.&rdquo;</strong>

 </li>

@@ -189,7 +199,7 @@ organize local labor.

 <h2>Both high and low profile people use Tor</h2>

 <ul>

 <li>Does being in the public spotlight shut you off from having a private

-life, forever, online?  A rural lawyer in a small New England state keeps

+life, forever, online?  A rural lawyer in a New England state keeps

 an anonymous blog because, with the diverse clientele at his prestigious

 law firm, <strong>his political beliefs are bound to offend someone</strong>.  Yet, he

 doesn't want to remain silent on issues he cares about.  Tor helps him

@@ -224,7 +234,7 @@ to report breaches to a central group, who correlates attacks to detect

 coordinated patterns and send out alerts.  But if a specific bank in

 St. Louis is breached, they don't want an attacker watching the incoming

 traffic to such a repository to be able to track where information is

-coming from.  Even though every packet were encrypted, the Internet

+coming from.  Even though every packet were encrypted, the IP

 address would betray the location of a compromised system.  Tor allows

 such repositories of sensitive information to resist compromises.

 </li>