Anonymous Living

The Internet is a place where you can be anonymous, but are not by default. Everything you do on the Internet can be watched - at least by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). But there is a quick and easy way to make sure it is impossible for anyone to monitor what you do on the Internet: Install the free open source software program Tor. It allows you to browse the Internet anonymously.

Tor also allows you to write a blog - and other web-pages - anonymously, both on the public Internet and on the special location hidden services who are available only to Tor-users. A location hidden service is a website, or other Internet service, which can only be accessed using the Tor-network. These work just like “normal” Internet services, but there are two major differences: 1) It is impossible (or, at least, very hard) to find out where in the world the service is located and 2) you have to use Tor to access them. This has one major drawback, most people do not use Tor, so publishing on one of the free blog/wiki/etc services on the public Internet may be a better way to share your thoughts as a Tor-user.

Well, now you know. The software you need to use the Internet anonymously is there, available, and best of all: It’s free open-source software. Visit http://tor.eff.org/ and check it out for yourself. It makes browsing slightly slower than on the normal Internet, but the extra delay is worth it - at least if you value anonymity. Anonymity may not be important if you are in a truly free country, but if you are a place where your free speech on the Internet may cause your government to torture you, or the corporation you work at to fire you, then you really should try Tor.

Technorati Tags: Free speech, Anonymity, Internet