That’s where the similarities end since Tor is startlingly dated compared to modern interfaces like Safari and Chrome. Downloadable from, the installation process is akin to conventional web browsers. Tor is compatible with Windows, Linux, Android and iOS devices.
On the plus side, it makes sailing under the radar possible. On the downside, that means endlessly re-entering user credentials (at which point activity can be tracked as normal). Every time you log into the Tor browser, you have a clean slate. Those screen-filling GDPR privacy statements are a constant reminder of how browsing histories are resold around the world, while the recent story claiming that Facebook harvests app data on people who don’t even have Facebook profiles dealt another blow to public confidence. More pertinently, the Tor browser is ideal for consumers uncomfortable with targeted advertising and cookies.
Because Dark Web content exists beyond the sight of search engines, this is an ideal place to host material you wouldn’t want the local constabulary to know about. This is another paradox since the web pages it hosts are notorious for containing extreme video clips. And since the data is encrypted, it wouldn’t make much sense even if it was accurately intercepted.īecause of its deliberately inefficient approach to data distribution, Tor is too slow to support high-quality video content. The complexity of these randomised pathways generates privacy akin to the layers of an onion – peel one away, and another equally inscrutable layer is revealed. By the time it has travelled through numerous servers and nodes, it’s effectively impossible to reliably determine what data has been distributed, or who was involved. Rather than following the quickest route from server to the user device, each data packet goes on a convoluted journey across cyberspace en route to its destination. The Tor browser’s name was inspired by the way individual data packets are bounced around the internet. And although Tor could benefit us all, few people know it exists. Its non-profit administrators make the Tor browser freely available, with no benefit to themselves, at a time when everything online seems to have a cost attached. It’s part-funded by the American Government, despite being widely regarded as a hotbed of criminality and moral turpitude. This privacy-oriented search engine is based on a data distribution model devised by the US Navy, even though its principles of anonymity are antithetical to national defence.
In many ways, The Onion Router embodies the internet’s contrary nature.
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