https://www.torproject.org/

It’s the go-to tool for those seeking anonymity: journalists, activists, and anyone looking to dodge the trackers.

No, it’s not just another VPN.

The technical difference is crucial: a VPN is a direct tunnel to a single company; you’re trusting that company not to log your data.

Tor is decentralized: your traffic bounces through three volunteer-run servers (nodes).

With a VPN, you trust a brand. With Tor, you trust the network’s architecture.

It works through layers (hence the "Onion"): each node only knows where the packet came from and where it’s going next, but none knows the full path.

This provides a level of anonymity that no commercial VPN can match by design.

This is where I activate the "the money trail" analysis, and things get spicy.

Tor wasn’t born in a rebel hacker’s basement. It was designed and developed by the U.S. Naval Research Lab (NRL). Yes, the "anti-establishment" tool came straight from the heart of the military.

Follow the money trail. Even today, the Tor Project is an NGO, but the vast majority of its funding still comes from the U.S. Federal Government (via the State Department and defense agencies).

Why would Uncle Sam pay for something that prevents him from spying?

The answer lies in the logic of the "Anonymity Set." If the U.S. government used a private network for its spies, any trace of that network would be a massive red flag for its enemies. A lone spy on an empty network is a compromised spy.

To operate in the shadows, agents need "noise." If Tor is filled with ordinary people, activists, and privacy-conscious users, an intelligence agent's traffic becomes invisible. It blends into the crowd.

The conclusion is stark: Your privacy is their camouflage. The state doesn’t fund Tor out of the goodness of its heart; it does so because it needs you to be there so its own movements don’t stand out.

You are the forest where they hide.

If the government finances a large part of the infrastructure, it does not need to "hack" the network. It is enough for them to statistically observe the entry and exit points that they themselves help to maintain.

Key fact: In cases such as Silk Road or Playpen, it was shown that the FBI used Network Investigative Techniques (NITs) to plant malware on users and force them to reveal their location.

Does this mean Tor is useless?

Not at all.

The encryption is solid, and for the average user, it remains a powerful privacy tool. But understanding the incentives is key: you are a user of an infrastructure that serves state interests far larger than your own anonymity.

In the information age, sovereignty means understanding who built the house you're hiding in.

Absolute privacy is hard to find when the provider of the tool is the same entity with the greatest incentive to watch.

Nothing is free; especially anonymity.

#SovereignIndividual