Jacob Appelbaum / TOR Project
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.
It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.
It is used by individuals to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. It is also used by journalists to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs. The variety of people who use Tor is actually part of what makes it so secure.
