Tor is a toolset designed for anyone who wants to improve their safety and security on the Internet. The application can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features.

Tor hushes up your communications by bouncing them around a distributed network of servers, called onion routers. Tor's technology aims to provide Internet users with protection against "traffic analysis," a form of network surveillance that threatens personal anonymity and privacy online, confidential business activities and relationships, as well as state security.