PC World Lauds Free, Anonymous Communication Tool as Superior to Paid Competitors

San Francisco, CA - PC World has included the Tor anonymous Internet communication tool in its list of the year's best products. Tor is being developed with support from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and was previously funded by the US Navy.

The PC World review says, "[Tor's] onion routing service strips away information from Internet data packets that might reveal your identity while you are browsing. Tor goes a step further than paid competitors, anonymizing your email, IM, IRC chat, or any other TCP/IP network data."

"It's great to see Tor getting mainstream recognition, even as we continue to develop the system and make it easier for ordinary Internet users to protect their privacy," said EFF Technology Manager Chris Palmer.

Tor protects Internet users' privacy by allowing them to visit websites without revealing IP addresses and other tracking information that can be used to find out where individuals go and what they see online. Currently, many websites alter the information you see depending on what country you come from, your Internet provider, or whether you've previously visited the site. This tracking information is also stored by many websites and can be used to profile users, as well as made available to the government or private parties in litigation. More worrisome, the ability to track Internet users can create physical risks for those such as human rights workers and domestic violence victims. Tor protects against this sort of privacy invasion, called "traffic analysis," by obscuring the route your communications take through the Internet.

Contact:

Chris Palmer
Technology Manager
Electronic Frontier Foundation
chris@eff.org

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