Our right to privacy and our ability to express ourselves freely online is more at risk than ever before. Governments use spyware to target human rights defenders and disruptive internet censorship systems that block entire websites that talk about human rights. In fact, Amnesty’s websites are completely blocked to people living in countries like Russia, Iran and China, just because we dare to confront human rights violations in those countries.
Luckily there are organisations out there looking for ways to combat this threat. This includes the Tor Project, a non-profit organisation that builds technology that helps you stay safe online. The Tor Project builds and maintains the free Tor Browser which is one of the strongest tools available for regularly users to maintain their privacy and anonymity online.
In December 2023, Amnesty International launched its global website as an .onion site on the Tor network, giving users greater access to its ground-breaking work exposing and documenting human rights violations in areas where government censorship and digital surveillance are rife.
What is Tor?
Tor, which is an acronym for ‘The Onion Router’, is privacy-enhancing software and a community-run network which powers the Tor Browser that makes it incredibly difficult to track what you do online. It is like having a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or private browser but even more secure.
When you use the Tor Browser or Tor-specific onion services, information about your movements online is scrambled through a global network of Tor relays run by volunteers with The Tor Project. This means that there are multiple layers of encryption protecting your privacy, just like there are many layers in an onion.
What makes Tor different to browsing online normally?
Before we can explain what sets Tor Browser apart from other browsers, we should first cover the basics of how normal browsers work.
Normal browsers like Chrome, or Safari or Firefox search for websites using DNS or the Domain Name System. DNS uses a distributed network of systems to locate the web server that houses the website you’re looking for. Your device will then make a direct connection to that web server. That web server and internet routers that you used to reach that server have your IP address, since that is how they knew where to send the content.
It’s similar to the way we send physical letters through the post. Your letter goes through a series of post offices before it finally reaches its destination. And just like you have a return address on a letter, your IP address is included in the information being passed around.
This is where privacy becomes an issue. You leave traces of your IP address across the internet when you’re browsing, which makes it possible to track someone’s online activity without them knowing.
Using a Tor browser hides your IP address by putting it through multiple levels of encryption and Tor network relay points before sending any information to the website you are visiting, thus making browsing safer and more private.
What is an onion domain?
The most secure and private connection you can make using Tor is with websites that are published on an .onion domain. These websites are created inside the Tor network and are end-to-end encrypted, meaning that there is no information being passed through the public internet after leaving the Tor network.
In 2023, we started publishing our research and campaigns on an .onion domain, enabling our supporters to better access human rights information without compromising their privacy.
While the Tor browser is a great way to avoid sharing your IP address while online, there are still risks to using the normal infrastructure of the Internet. Even though your IP address is hidden, the network likely knows that you’re using Tor, which could present its own challenges. To combat this Tor also provides Bridges that make it more difficult for anyone watching your internet traffic to determine that you are using Tor.
How can I use Tor?
You can use Tor by downloading the Tor Browser, which works the same way other browsers do except it’s connected to the Tor network.
How does Tor help promote human rights?
We all have a right to privacy. That right is well documented in laws around the world, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And yet we still hear reports of states using unlawful and pervasive surveillance systems to track internet browsing and the use of messaging applications.
Governments also use highly-invasive spyware and targeted surveillance systems to spy on people who speak against them. These risks don’t only affect the most vocal human rights defenders. In 2021, The Pegasus Project unveiled the truth that spyware from surveillance company NSO Group was used to potential target as many as 50,000 phones on behalf of their government clients.
We have joined global calls for an end to this kind of invasive and systematic surveillance but know that these programmes continue to remain a serious threat. That’s why initiatives like Tor are so crucial to combatting today’s surveillance harms. Tor provides an alternate route to the web that allows people to benefit from open and free information without being forced to compromise their privacy.
“By making Amnesty International’s website available as a secure .onion site on Tor, more people will be able to read our human rights research and engage with the vital work of speaking truth to power, and defending human rights.”
Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Security Lab at Amnesty Tech.
“The onion site provides a means for individuals around the world to exercise their rights to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association in a safe and secure online environment,” said Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Security Lab at Amnesty Tech.
“By making Amnesty International’s website available as a secure .onion site on Tor, more people will be able to read our human rights research and engage with the vital work of speaking truth to power, and defending human rights.”
The new Amnesty onion site can be accessed using the Tor Browser through our secure onion address at: https://www.amnestyl337aduwuvpf57irfl54ggtnuera45ygcxzuftwxjvvmpuzqd.onion.
The browser must be downloaded and installed through the official Tor Project website.
How to access Amnesty websites using Tor
The Tor Project has a version of the Tor Browser for many common platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Onion sites can also be accessed on iPhone through the Onion Browser app. In countries where the Tor network is blocked, visitors will also need to configure Tor bridges which help bypass attempts to block connections to the network.
Amnesty International is also making language-specific content published in Chinese, Farsi and Russian available on the Amnesty International Tor onion website.
“We are thrilled that one of the most recognized human rights organizations has adopted an onion service to provide greater online protections for those seeking information, support and advocacy. Amnesty International’s choice to offer an onion version of their website underlines the critical role of this open-source privacy technology as an important tool in our shared work of advancing human rights,” said Isabela Fernandes, Executive Director, the Tor Project.