Web browsers - Tor Browser

The Tor browser is a Firefox-based browser allowing anonymous web access and censorship circumvention by routing web traffic through Tor.

Features

Tor Network

Tor is a network composed of thousand of volunteer-run nodes worldwide routing Internet traffic by randomly selecting a circuit between a user and a visited website or service and preventing traffic from both the source and the endpoint to be viewed by the same entity hence countering network surveillance and traffic analysis.

New identity

Users can request a new identity to prevent links between browser activities; tabs and windows will be closed, browsing history and cookies deleted and a new tor circuit set.

Anti-fingerprinting protections

The browser come with a series of anti-fingerprinting protection preventing user tracking.

Search Engine

By default users queries are made through the private search engine DuckDuckGo.

Extensions

The browser come with a single extension NoScript.

Configuration

Users should use the browser as is and should refrain from customizing it outside of the security levels.

Security levels

The browser comes with three security levels: standard with all features enabled; safer with dangerous features removed (JavaScript disabled on non-HTTPS website, fonts and math symbols disabled, audio and video click-to-play); and safest only allowing the most basic functionalities for static websites and services (similar to safer but with JavaScript disabled on all websites).

Recommendations

Users should use this browser when maximum privacy and anonymity is required. This browser can be used on desktop and mobile at the exception of iOS for which the Onion Browser exist instead.

Limitations

Users may find it quite slow and may not be the right option for general web browsing.

Sources


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