• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
TechEngage

TechEngage

Technology news and opinions

  • Tech News
  • Reviews
  • How-to
  • Roundups
  • Science
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Space
  • Apps
  • More
    • Opinion
    • Noteworthy
    • Culture
    • Blockchain
      • Cryptocurrency
    • Events
    • Deals
    • Startups
      • Startup Submissions
  • Videos
  • Login
Browsers

Mozilla is backing Tor in its fight for user privacy

Avatar for Fazeel Ashraf Fazeel Ashraf Updated: March 11, 2021

Tor web browser
Image credit: Tor Project

Mozilla, the organization behind the popular web browser Firefox is backing Tor in its fight for user privacy. Tor just announced its fight for online privacy by running its annual end of the year fundraiser.
Mozilla will match an individual’s donation, meaning Tor will instantly receive double its donations.
Both Tor and Mozilla are huge advocates of online privacy, freedom for all, and above all providing their services to the public for free. According to Tor, its user base is around two million individuals.

A campaign was run last year which helped Tor reach $400,000 in donations. This was achieved because of Mozilla’s constant support. This sum might not be much for a small startup, as it equals a small seed round, but it meant the world for Tor.

Tor had to crowdfund its operations since governments were becoming more greedy, and afraid of providing privacy to its citizens. Tor could no longer rely on such governments to cover its expenses. The nonprofit began crowdfunding campaigns in 2015.
The company had received $3.3 million in 2015, which was the highest amount of money raised by Tor, but 86% of this cost was due to government grants. Tor managed to raise just $0.8 million in 2014. In contrast, 2015 was the best year for Tor in terms of money.
Tor’s President and Research Director Roger Dingledine stated the company still has a long to way go. Dingledine believes in order to improve the figures even further, the company has “more work to do.”

Also Read: Ghostery released a new version of its mobile browser

Between 11/24/2015 to 1/15/2016 Tor raised $205,874 from the public. 5265 people contributed to the campaign. 2018 has been another big year for Tor as it released the alpha version of its browser for Android devices in September.
In the same month, Tor released its most stable browser update called Tor Browser 8.0. Tor also pushed to integrate its browser into Firefox.

In today’s day and age, it is extremely essential to protect oneself online. Russian hackers, spam accounts, advertisement trackers and security agencies are just some of the forces of evil that users need to be vary of.

Moreover, since the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)  Ajit Pai decided to cut net neutrality, users’ privacy and freedom are in even more danger. With net neutrality buried, internet providers can charge gigantic fees and throttle internet speeds, if a user is using one of its competitor’s product.
Tor works by hiding users’ identities from network surveillance. It does this by routing incoming data to other servers. The data after having passed through many servers get encrypted and returned to the user.
This is known as onion routing. As the data passes through many servers before returning to a user, it might slow down the speed at which content is delivered to a user.
Tor Foundation’s fundraising director wrote in a blog post, “The Tor Project has a bold mission: to take a stand against invasive and restrictive online practices and bring privacy and freedom to internet users around the world. But we can’t do it alone. ”
She further wrote,” Countries like Egypt and Venezuela have tightened restrictions on free expression and accessing the open web; companies like Google and Amazon are mishandling people’s data and growing the surveillance economy, and some nations are even shutting off the internet completely to quell possible dissidence.”

This post was orginally published on: October 24, 2018 and was updated on: March 11, 2021.

Related Tags: Mozilla Tor

Related Stories

  • Tor gets record number of donations from users

    Tor gets record number of donations from users

  • Google Chrome dark mode finally arrives for macOS

    Google Chrome dark mode finally arrives for macOS

  • Chrome 70 will restrict websites over flawed security certificates

    Chrome 70 will restrict websites over flawed security certificates

Avatar for Fazeel Ashraf

Fazeel Ashraf

Former Author @TechEngage

IT graduate from the National University of Science and Technology with a passion for writing. When not reading or writing, I can be found listening to rock and metal or playing some classic jams on my electric guitar. I’m also a big fan of horror movies.

Reader Interactions

Join The Discussion: Cancel reply

Please read our comment policy before submitting your comment. Your email address will not be used or publish anywhere. You will only receive comment notifications if you opt to subscribe below.

Primary Sidebar

Become a contributor

We are accepting contributor applications. All applications will be decided in 3 days after applying. To learn more click here.
TechEngage-Apple-News
TechEngage-Google-News

Recent Stories

  • Best chair covers on Amazon for 2021
  • Best Apple MacBook Pro Alternatives on Amazon for 2021
  • Best family board games to buy on Amazon for 2021
  • Best gaming controllers for PC on Amazon for 2021
  • Canon announces flagship EOS R3 camera
An Image of a Best Wi-Fi Hotspot on Amazon

Best mobile Wi-Fi hotspots on Amazon for 2021

Image of a gaming Keyboard

Best gaming keyboards on Amazon in 2021

A screenshot of dark mode on Chrome running on Windows 10

How to enable dark mode in Google Chrome (Windows)

A person holding a smartphone in hand

How to disinfect your phone

Footer

Discover

  • About us
  • Newsroom
  • Staff
  • Advertise
  • Send us a tip
  • Startup Submission Questionnaire
  • Brand Kit
  • Contact us

Legal pages

  • Reviews Guarantee
  • Community Guidelines
  • Corrections Policy and Practice
  • Cookies Policy
  • Our Ethics
  • Disclaimer
  • GDPR Compliance
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Must reads

  • Best AirPods alternatives on Amazon
  • Best PC monitors for gaming on Amazon
  • Best family board games
  • Best Graphics Cards (GPUs) for gaming
  • Best video doorbells without subscription
  • Best handheld video game consoles
  • Best all-season tires for snow
  • Best mobile Wi-Fi hotspots
  • Best treadmills on Amazon
  • Best AM radios for long-distance reception

Download our apps

TechEngage-app-google-play-store

Copyright © 2021 · All Rights Reserved · TechEngage® is a Project of TechAbout LLC.
TechEngage® is a registered trademark in United Kingdom under Trademark Number UK00003417167 and is ISSN protected under the ISSN 2690-3776 and OCLC Number 1139335774.

Go to mobile version