Key facts:
The union seeks better sustainability, cost reduction and countering digital threats.
They want activists, journalists and other users to access improved digital security.
The Tor Project, known for its browser that facilitates anonymous Internet browsing, and the organization behind Tails, a Linux-based operating system designed to preserve privacy, have joined forces and merged operations.
This alliance seeks to improve financial sustainability, reduce operating costs and expand training and outreach programs to counter a greater number of digital threats, as announced in a press release.
“The union will strengthen the ability of both organizations to protect people around the world from surveillance and censorship,” the companies said. With this collaboration, both projects aim to provide essential tools to maintain digital security online, especially for activists, journalists, and users in general.
Tor is known for its communications network that routes traffic through volunteer nodes in multiple layers of encryption, hiding the user’s IP address and protecting their identity. Tails, on the other hand, is an operating system that boots from a USB device or DVD, leaving no trace on the hardware when powering offand uses Tor by default for navigation.
By joining forces, the Tails team can now focus on improving Tails OS, exploring new uses while benefiting from the Tor Project’s more robust organizational structure.
“Running Tails as an independent project for 15 years has been a big effort, but not for the reasons you might expect. The hardest part wasn’t the technology, but handling critical tasks like fundraising, finance, and human resources. After trying to handle them in different ways, I’m really relieved that Tails is now under the wing of the Tor Project. In a way, it feels like coming home.”
Intrigueri, Tails OS team leader
This collaboration not only facilitates internal work, but also ensures the sustainable development and advancement of these vital tools.
“Working together enables faster and more efficient collaboration, enabling rapid integration of new features from one tool to another. “This collaboration strengthens our mission and accelerates our ability to respond to evolving threats.”
Isabela Fernandes, executive director of the Tor Project.
The privacy philosophy of Tor and Tails aligns with that of Bitcoin, a decentralized financial system that operates without a central entity, based on cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new currencies. Bitcoin and Tor share a foundation in privacy and anonymity, promoting an internet and financial system free of surveillance.
In practice, Bitcoin users and services can choose to use Tor to improve the privacy of their transactions or to access services on the dark web that accept Bitcoin, thus taking advantage of the anonymity that Tor offers. Although there is no reported technical integration, the combined use of both technologies by the community is common, where Tor is used to maintain privacy in conducting Bitcoin transactionsespecially in contexts where privacy is crucial, such as in online marketplaces that operate outside of conventional scrutiny.
A notable case where both technologies were directly related was the update to the Lightning network, which is the BTC scalability solution, in 2022. As reported by CriptoNoticias, support was added in LN for greater privacy when executing transactions through Tor.
With the new merger, Tor and Tails not only seek to counter mass surveillance and censorship of a free internet, but are also positioning themselves to confront future digital threats, ensuring that privacy and anonymity tools remain accessible and effective for all.
This article was created using artificial intelligence and edited by a human Editor.
