Table Of Content
torproject.org
The Tor Project did not gain its 501©3 nonprofit certification until 2006, but the research and coding that led to the concept of "onion routing?" began in the mid-1990s.
In order to better understand how Tor might benefit or hinder your TV and movie streaming experience, let us first explore the vision, philosophy, and central idea behind the Tor Project. As more and more of our data is bought and sold to corporations, many of us have come to value our online privacy, which is precisely why the Tor Project was created.
If you look at the About section of Torproject.org, you will see that the developers, researchers, and founders who have made Tor possible are a diverse group of people. All of the people who have been involved in Tor share a belief: private internet users should have access to an uncensored web.
Tor is an online anonymity tool that protects users' privacy. It allows people to browse the internet without being tracked or identified.
History
In 1995, researchers at the US Naval Research Lab began to question whether it would be possible to create an anonymous web browsing experience. From this question, the first designs for what would become known as an onion network were drawn up.
an onion network is a form of digital security.
In order to create an onion network, internet users must route their traffic through numerous different servers in order to keep their data safe and encrypted. This is similar to how the Tor browser works today - an onion network is a form of digital security.
A ?onion? network consists of routing internet traffic through as many different servers as possible, encrypting the data constantly along the way. More or less, this is how the Tor network of today works. This is why it is sometimes called ?onion? routing - it consists of layers and layers of encryption and privacy.
Many years passed and many trials were conducted. Onion networks proved to be successful and the three men who created the first onion network had accomplished what was previously thought to be impossible: a decentralized, 100% private version of the internet. Onion networks were shown to successfully be able to bypass government firewalls (thereby sidestepping censorship laws). This led to the Tor Project becoming an invaluable resource for activists, journalists, and revolutionaries living under dictatorships in the mid-2000s.
In 2006, the Tor browser - which provides greater anonymity on the internet - was officially released as free software. It is still available to download and use today without any registration required. Just like other browsers with less anonymity (Chrome, Firefox, etc.), all Tor requires is a quick download. The network re-routing and encryption are all automatically done for you by the browser itself.
The highly successful encryption power of Tor has led to the development of some of the darker aspects of the web, which can be accessed through its decentralized network. This network has become a hotspot for illegal activity, ironically, due to its original purpose as a means of protection for US military personnel. Federal authorities have become increasingly concerned about this shadowy area of the internet and the activities that occur there.
It would be irresponsible to discuss the dark web without giving a word of caution. This can be a dangerous and potentially traumatizing underbelly of the internet to casually browse around. To put it one way, there is content to be found here that cannot be unseen. So, if you are going to use the Tor browser, take caution. It is generally not advisable to click around on random links found on the dark web. That being said, if you just want to use Tor to privately and anonymously stream from sites that you already know and trust, you will have nothing to worry about.
Design
If you're thinking of downloading Tor, you might be interested in what it looks like and how it works. The design is not unlike Google Chrome, and the layout is almost identical - which is great because it means that it won't take long to get used to the new browser. There won't be a whole lot necessary for you to learn (or unlearn) in order to start streaming your favorite shows and movies on Tor.
You will find your collection of tabs at the top of the browser, which you can click between and move around as you would expect. In the top right-hand corner of the browser, you will find a settings dropdown menu, where you can access your library of saved sites and content, a list of your logins and passwords, extensions, page viewing options, etc. However, one thing that might be notably missing from this menu is a history button - because that's part of the point of Tor, it does not track your history.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
As far as actual user experience is concerned, Tor is just as intuitive as the best non-encrypted web browsers out there. It is easy to use and familiar, all the hotkeys are the same, and you won't have to learn anything new to make the most of it. Plus, whether you are using the desktop version of the mobile app version of Tor, you are guaranteed a smooth and reliable experience.
However, there are some downsides to Tor that other browsers do not necessarily create. You will likely notice a lag in loading and buffering times. This is just a necessary price to pay for privacy, unfortunately. This is because of the fact that, as I outlined earlier, the nature of a decentralized network is to constantly encrypt and scramble your data across a massive server network. So, your data has to be sent out across numerous servers and scrambled multiple times over before it can make it back to you. This will, naturally, take longer than if your data is sent one place and back immediately, unencrypted.
This may be frustrating, of course, for anyone who enjoys streaming HD video content. In fact, you may even find yourself growing impatient with the buffering speeds of lower quality streams. However, deciding whether or not to use Tor is going to probably be based on how much you value your online privacy. That is, what are you more concerned about - the speed of downloading and streaming content or a fully encrypted private online experience?
That being said, you can still take advantage of most of the bells and whistles that a traditional web browser offers. Even though your data is not trackable, you can still make and save bookmarks and login information. There are also extensions available for Tor. However, it should be noted that the Tor Project itself does not recommend using them? Although some add-on developers may access your data, Tor cannot regulate what those add-on software developers do with it. Therefore, an ad blocker could be used with Tor but it could potentially undo the whole purpose of using Tor in the first place; it could endanger your privacy.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Tor is an excellent tool for keeping your data anonymous and encrypted, but if you're looking for a fast and lossless streaming experience, you may not be best served by using Tor. Again, it comes down to what you value most when it comes to your online experience. If privacy is important to you, then Tor is the way to go. Otherwise, you may be better off using Chrome or Firefox.
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