The Tor Project merges with Tails, a Linux-based portable OS focused on privacy
The Tor Project is merging operations with Tails, a portable Linux-based operating system focused on preserving user privacy and anonymity.
The merger comes against a backdrop of ongoing digital surveillance and regulatory manoeuvres to break end-to-end encryption, while censorship of online services also remains firmly on the global agenda.
Tails will be incorporated “into the Tor Project’s structure,” which will allow for “easier collaboration, better sustainability, reduced overhead, and expanded training and outreach programs to counter a larger number of digital threats,” according to a blog post published today by the Tor Project’s PR & communications director, Pavel Zoneff.
Founded in 2006, the Tor Project is a non-profit best known for its work on Tor (“The Onion Router”), a privacy-focused network that anonymizes internet traffic by routing it through multiple disparate servers, encrypting data along the way. The Tor Project develops browsers for all the main operating systems, and some of the world’s biggest tech companies have embraced Tor to support various privacy-centric initiatives.
Tails, for its part, sports a pre-installed desktop environment and is built on a Debian-based Linux distribution. It’s lightweight, and can be booted from portable storage devices, such as a USB drive, leaving little in the way of a digital footprint.
