These nodes can be located anywhere in the world.Your internet connection is routed through at least 3 random “nodes” (volunteer run servers).The name Tor originated as an acronym for The Onion Router, and refers to the way in which data encryption is layered. For a full list of Tor’s sponsors, please see here How Tor works Sensitive to criticism, however, Tor has also made substantial efforts to widen its funding base. This is singularly peculiar, because other branches of the US government routinely spend large amounts of money, time, and resources trying to compromise the Tor network!ĭespite this somewhat bizarre situation, Tor remains completely independent, and its open source code remains among the most thoroughly and regularly audited in the world. To this end, the Project continues to receive substantial funding from the US government. In a curious twist of fate, the Tor Project was developed in the mid-1990s by the United States Naval Research Laboratory, in order to assist people living under oppressive regimes to bypass censorship and exercise free speech. Tor is 100% free and open source, although it does accept donations. Thanks to being free, Tor can also make quite a handy anti-censorship tool, but many repressive governments go to great lengths to counter this by blocking access to the network (to varying degrees of success). Tor, on the other hand, is a vital tool for that tiny subset of internet users who really require the maximum possible anonymity.

VPN does, however, provide a much better day-to-day internet experience, and because of this, is a much more flexible general-purpose privacy tool. Using a VPN can provide a high degree of privacy, but should never be regarded as anonymous (because your VPN provider will always know your true IP address). Tor provides a very high degree of true anonymity, but at the cost of day-to-day internet usability. Read my Tor Network Review to find out more!

There are core differences between the technologies, however, that in practical terms make them useful in quite different ways.

In some ways, then, it serves a similar purpose to using a VPN. The Tor network aims to provide users with truly anonymous internet access.

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