Glossary
Tor
Tor is a free, volunteer-run network that routes your connection through several relays before it reaches its destination.
What it means
Tor is a free, volunteer-run network that routes your connection through several relays before it reaches its destination. Its purpose is to separate knowledge: no single relay knows both who you are and where you are going. The guard relay sees your address but not your destination; the middle relay sees neither; the exit relay sees the destination but not your address. Tor is used by journalists, researchers, human-rights workers and ordinary people who want privacy — and also, like every widely used technology, by criminals.
How it works
Tor works with onion routing: before your message leaves your computer, it is wrapped in three layers of encryption, one for each relay in the circuit. Each relay removes one layer and learns only where to send the message next. Tor Browser is the web browser that uses the network, with privacy settings built in — it blocks trackers, resists fingerprinting, and makes every user look alike. The network itself is run by volunteers who operate relays around the world, and the software is maintained by the Tor Project, a non-profit organisation. Circuits are rebuilt regularly, and guard relays are kept stable for weeks so that changing guards cannot be used to track you.
Example
Imagine Sara, a fictional journalist, researching a story from a country where the press is monitored. She opens Tor Browser and visits a news site. Her internet provider can see that she is connecting to Tor, but not which site she is reading. The news site sees the exit relay's address, not Sara's. The middle relay sees neither. What Tor cannot do is hide the fact that she logged into her personal email account in the same session — that would identify her immediately, whatever network she arrived on.
Common misunderstandings
The most common misunderstanding is that Tor makes you invisible. It does not: it makes tracking much harder, and it never guarantees anonymity. Logging into a personal account, downloading a file that connects outside Tor, or being watched at both ends of a connection can all identify you. Tor is a privacy tool with real, documented limits — not a cloak.
Related terms
Learn more
- How does Tor work?
- Can you be tracked on Tor?
- Tor Browser explained
- Tor Technology Fundamentals
- Back to the full glossary
Last checked: 14 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is using Tor illegal?
In most countries, no — Tor is a legal tool, and using it is not a crime. What matters is what you do with it: criminal activity is still criminal on any network. Laws differ by country, and this is general information, not legal advice.
Does Tor hide me from my internet provider?
Partly. Your provider can see that you are connecting to Tor, because the guard relay address is visible. It cannot see what you are doing inside the connection. That is an important distinction: Tor hides the destination and the content, not the fact that you are using Tor.
Why is Tor slower than normal browsing?
Because your traffic passes through three volunteer-run relays around the world instead of going directly, and each one adds delay. The volunteer network also has limited capacity. Slowness is the normal price of the design, not a fault.