Lesson on how to establish and use a private browsing platform to maintain online privacy and data security, and avoid surveillance and data theft. Tor Browser.
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Learning objective: Establish a private browsing platform
Welcome to Module 5!
In the earlier modules we established what online privacy is and how to start messaging privately, but what about all the data I am leaking when I use Google or Bing? OK, so let’s get you introduced to private browsing!
First you need to understand that search is BIG Business! When you use a commercial browser such as Google from a computer you use regularly or are logged in on, the results that are being returned are not “objective”. They are highly personalized. You could say they are “skewed” specifically for you. Google has done such a good job of returning the results that you want to see that it has achieved . That’s an incredible statistic!
How did they do this? Well, in order to understand how, we first need to come to terms with the fact that the services provided by Google & Co are not actually ‘free’ in the sense that they are not simply returning their search results to you out of the kindness of their hearts. The reality is that you are the thing, the product, if you will, that is being sold. A special mention goes out to Facebook here for turning its users into products: let’s not forget those guys! They do this because your digital footprint has such immense value. In Module 1 we touched on “Your data” and your “metadata” - Google & Co have done such a great job of accessing and offering this information for sale to advertisers, lobbyists, data research firms and all sorts of interested parties that they have been able to reinvest over again in the technology that keeps these guys at the top of the game.
Residing within all Google & Co online products, both paid and free, are sophisticated data mining algorithms and artificial intelligence that help them maintain their commercial edge. When you use a “free” commercial product such as a web browser from Google & Co, the User Agreements that you consent to by using that product hand over to these entities the power to collect, track, mine and sell both “your data” and your “metadata”. The scope is massive, including, but not limited to what you search for, the type of device, IP Address, MAC Address, which browser, geographically where in the world you are (generally within about 10 m accuracy!), what time and date you search it, how long you spend on each search, where you click and how long you spend there. This metadata is then used to generate hyper-accurate profiles of who you are, what your personality type is and how you may be influenced, to buy, to date, to vote, to do pretty much anything.
But let’s get something straight. Perhaps it’s OK that Google & Co has information on how to make that vegan curry you plan on serving for lunch with friends next Sunday. But it’s important to understand that, if you rely solely on one browser, or one suite of products for searching everything, a huge trove of data about you, your business, your health, your finances, your relationships, sexual orientation, political persuasion and on and on is all being collected, collected, collected. It is mined, collated, categorized, and organized in hundreds of different ways. And then it is all offered for sale. This is one reason you may want to consider augmenting your use of Google (or Firefox, or Safari or whatever browser you use as default) with use of the free, open source tool we are going to share with you now.
We now want to show you how you can take back control of your leaky digital footprint when it comes to search.
Tor stands for The Onion Router, because it uses “The Onion Network” to manage traffic. On the Onion Network, messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, analogous to layers of an onion. All Onion Network data is encrypted and transmitted through a series of network nodes called onion routers, each of which "peels" away a single layer, uncovering the data's next destination. When the final layer is decrypted, the message or search request arrives at its destination. Senders – or searchers in this instance – remain anonymous because each intermediary knows only the location of the immediately preceding and following nodes. Tor Browser is a not-for-profit, open-source entity and it’s their internet browser we’d like to introduce you to now.
Before we get going, we’d like to note that there is a drawback to using the Onion Network. You will notice a time lag as compared to using Google over a ‘naked’ connection. We think that this delay is worth it in terms of protecting your privacy. If you use this tool with discretion, (searching on Google for your curry recipe is cool, but researching your potential new employer may not be), it’s worth the time-delay penalty.
We also need to explain that Tor is just the browser – analogous to Chrome or Firefox, you still need a search engine analogous to Google or Bing.
Tor comes preloaded with the Duck-Duck-Go search engine, which never saves your search data. Duck-Duck-Go does have ads, but those are only generated in response to your most current search term, not your entire history. So we will get you set up with Tor and Duck-Duck-Go to start.
Initialize Tor and click Connect. Note: As we touched on in Module 2, Lesson One, you will want to continue to maintain a ‘public identity’ in Chrome, with your Facebook, Gmail, etc. there.
Finally: It is CRUCIALLY important that you do not operate (sign in to) your Facebook, Gmail, etc. accounts in Tor as this would immediately link your private, anonymous session to your public profile.
On most operating systems, it is worth assuming that activities you undertake in one tab (and indeed in other programs or windows on the computer) can be seen by every other program or window. Therefore, keeping things ‘contained’ is a good policy. This means that if you require additional privacy this should be done in a stand-alone session, with no other programs or systems running at that time.
Go to in an incognito window on your computer’s web browser and click Download Tor.
Once Tor has downloaded, open the zip file and follow the instructions. Note: if you are a Mac user, you may need to bypass Mac Security. Click to see how you can do this
At the very least you might want to consider switching from your devices default browser and search engine to ones that respect your privacy. Privacy Browsers
Privacy Search Engines
