Tor has extreme value because it can work with your website browser, remote log-in applications and even with instant-messaging software. Think of it as a huge network of “hidden” servers that will keep your online identity (meaning your IP address) and your location invisible.īy using Tor, websites will no longer be able to track the physical location of your IP address or what you have been looking at online…and neither will any interested organizations that may want to monitor someone’s Internet activity-meaning law enforcement or government security agencies. That data path is never the same because Tor uses up to 5,000 Tor relays to send your data request. Then there’s the route your data takes as it travels to its destination: Tor will bounce your Internet requests and data through a vast and extensive network of relays (servers) around the world. The process is layered with heavy-duty encryption, which means your data is layered with privacy protection. Tor is a free software program that you load onto your computer (like a browser) that hides your IP address every time you send or request data on the Internet. So what choices do people who want more anonymity have? That’s where Tor comes in. (Look at our Trace Email Analyzer.) They cannot pinpoint your address or figure out who you are, but if you gave them your name or city in an email or correspondence, someone could guess or get close to figuring out where you are.Īnd if you were a lawbreaker online, a law enforcement agency could use legal means to get your name and address from your Internet Service Provider. The fact is, someone with limited technical skills can “track” your IP address to a general location, such as the city where you live. If you read our article on proxies, you’ll get an in-depth explanation.īut in a nutshell, people use proxies because they don’t want anyone to have an idea of where they are located. When you use a proxy server, you’re not contacting a website directly-your information runs through a special computer that passes along your request for you.īut more than that, a proxy packages your request with a different “identifier.” In other words, your IP address is no longer visible instead, your request borrows the IP address of the proxy.

A proxy server is a website/server that acts as a middleman for you to get on the Internet. Not too many computer users have heard of the terms “proxy” or “ proxy server,” or understand what they mean or do.

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