In 2019, mainstream coverage of privacy wins and challenges increased, and with that, so did coverage of the Tor Project. We are proud of what we accomplished last year and proud that our work advancing human rights to privacy and freedom online has caught the attention of outlets such as BBC, WIRED, Deutsche Welle, and NPR. Not only did they write about us, but some of these big names also began using and promoting our tools.

We’ve broken down 2019 coverage into sections: Tor’s Reach and Accessibility, Anti-Censorship, Onion Adoption, Ecosystem Impact, Cryptocurrency, and Advocacy. A more comprehensive list of coverage can be found after the post narrative.

Tor’s Reach and Accessibility

Inspired by major advancements in Tor Browser’s design, integration of Tor tabs in Brave browser, and the alpha release of Tor Browser for Android, Lily Hay Newman at Wired declared 2019 the year to try Tor.

“In truth, Tor has been relatively accessible for years now, largely because of the Tor Browser, which works almost exactly like a regular browser and does all the complicated stuff for you in the background. But in 2018 a slew of new offerings and integrations vastly expanded the available tools, making 2019 the year to finally try Tor. You may even end up using the network without realizing it.”

As people become more aware of how tech giants exploit their information, Tor was also cited as privacy-first alternative to Chrome.

As part of our goal to make Tor available to everyone online who needs it, we knew we needed to meet people where they are using the internet: on their mobile devices. In 2019, we made it “easier than ever” for people to use Tor by making it available on Android, and this development was written about by several publications, the most prominent of which are linked below.

Anti-Censorship

In addition to improved accessibility and privacy protections, our anti-censorship work made headlines. OONI, a project under Tor, was recognized for its contributions to documenting evidence of internet censorship worldwide.

Several outlets promoted Snowflake, an extension we released, now in an experimental stage, which empowers users of those browsers to help Tor users circumvent censorship.

Onion Adoption

To help users in censored countries reach their content, BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Mada Masr have joined ProPublica, The New York Times, and BuzzFeed News to set up onion addresses using Tor onion services. In addition to those outlets promoting their onion mirrors, other news sites also picked up on the BBC announcement. Due to the enhanced privacy and security properties onion addresses provide, in addition to their ability to help censored users bypass blocks, we expect this trend to continue. We will be focusing on scaling to meet this demand in 2020.

Ecosystem

Not all Tor benefits come from directly connecting to the network, using Tor Browser, or implementing onion services. Our innovations and techniques also help to raise the bar for privacy and security in other technologies and were written about for doing so. Firefox users now benefit from our security and privacy features, including an anti-fingerprint technique called "letterboxing." Mozilla is also exploring using Tor for a ‘Super Private Browsing’ mode. In 2019, Mozilla announced a research grant regarding Tor integration to Firefox. Currently the Firefox team is exploring testing a prototype using an add-on integration.

Cryptocurrency

This year, we were a trailblazing nonprofit organization regarding our acceptance of cryptocurrency donations. Many people in the cryptocurrency community share Tor's values of privacy and freedom online and expressed excitement about contributing to Tor through a variety of new cryptocurrencies. As one of the first nonprofits to accept cryptocurrencies on such a wide scale, we also set an example for other organizations to follow.

Advocacy

Our mission extends beyond developing tools that advance the human rights to privacy and freedom online; we also advocate for their use and other relevant critical issues necessary for a world where Tor thrives. We are proud to have joined in several campaigns in 2019 to uphold our values and speak out against dangerous demands to weaken encryption and increase surveillance.

2019 was a big year in the news for Tor, and as the demand for privacy online increases, we expect the stories to continue in 2020 as we focus on promoting our tools as the backbone of an internet that puts privacy first, by design.

Coverage

Reach and Accessibility

Wired. “Tor Is Easier Than Ever. Time to Give It a Try,” 1/1/2019. https://www.wired.com/story/tor-anonymity-easier-than-ever/

Fast Company. “The paranoid person’s guide to online privacy,” 3/21/2019. https://www.fastcompany.com/90316917/the-paranoid-persons-guide-to-onli…

Version2. “Ole Tange: Fungerer TorBrowser som primær browser?” 10/25/19. https://www.version2.dk/blog/ole-tange-fungerer-torbrowser-primaer-brow…

Lifehacker. “The best privacy and security focused web browsers,” 10/25/19. https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/08/the-best-privacy-and-security-foc…

ZDNet. “Cyber security 101: Protect your privacy from hackers, spies, and the government,” 8/9/19. https://www.zdnet.com/article/online-security-101-how-to-protect-your-p…

ZDNet. “First official version of Tor Browser for Android released on the Play Store,” 5/21/19. https://www.zdnet.com/article/first-official-version-of-tor-browser-for…

TechRepublic. “How to use the Tor browser on an Android device,” 5/9/19. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-use-the-tor-browser-on-an-a…

Mozilla’s Internet Health Report. “In defense of anonymity,” 2019. https://internethealthreport.org/2019/in-defense-of-anonymity/

Anti-Censorship

CNET. “These watchdogs track secret online censorship across the globe,” 10/28/2019. https://www.cnet.com/features/the-watchdogs-tracking-secret-online-cens…

ZDNet. “Tor Snowflake Turns Your Browser into a Proxy for Users in Censored Countries,” 10/17/19. https://www.zdnet.com/article/tor-snowflake-turns-your-browser-into-a-p…

Fossbytes. “New ‘Snowflake’ Proxy Helps Censored Users Access Tor Network,” 7/18/19. https://fossbytes.com/snowflake-addon-helps-censored-users-access-tor-n…

Onion Adoption

NPR. “BBC Launches Tor Mirror to Thwart Media Censorship,” 10/24/19. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/24/773060596/bbc-launches-tor-mirror-site-t… 10/23/19.

BBC. “BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50150981

Yahoo News UK. “BBC launches 'dark web' news site to get round censorship efforts by other countries” https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bbc-launches-dark-web-news-avoid-censorship-1…

CityAM. “BBC launches dark web news site in bid to dodge censors,” 10/23/2019. https://www.cityam.com/bbc-launches-dark-web-news-site-in-bid-to-dodge-…

The Verge. “BBC News heads to the dark web with new Tor mirror,” 10/24/2019. https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/24/20930085/bbc-news-dark-web-tor-the-…

Gizmodo. “BBC News launches Tor mirror site,” 10/24/2019. https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2019/10/bbc-news-launches-tor-mirror-site/

The Register, “BBC launches dedicated dark web mirror site,“ 10/24/2019. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/24/beeb_launches_dedicated_dark_w…

TechRadar, “BBC News launches Tor mirror site,” 10/23/2019. https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/bbc-news-launches-tor-mirror-site

BoingBoing “BBC launches a Tor hidden service mirror to help people evade their countries' censoring firewalls,” 10/24/2019. https://boingboing.net/2019/10/24/aunty-onion.html

Deutsche Welle, “Sites da Deutsche Welle agora acessíveis através do protocolo Tor,” 11/20/19. https://www.dw.com/pt-br/sites-da-deutsche-welle-agora-acess%C3%ADveis-…

Mada Masr. “Beating the Block: Mada Masr Launches Tor Mirror,” 12/25/19. https://madamasr.com/en/2019/12/25/feature/politics/beating-the-block-m… Ecosystem

ZDNet. “Firefox to add Tor Browser anti-fingerprinting technique called letterboxing,” 3/6/2019. https://www.zdnet.com/article/firefox-to-add-tor-browser-anti-fingerpri…

The Inquirer. “Mozilla is bringing Tor's 'letterboxing' privacy technique to Firefox,” 3/7/2019. https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3072208/firefox-adds-letterbo…

BoingBoing. “Firefox is getting more browser fingerprinting protection courtesy of Tor Browser's "letterboxing" technique,” 3/7/2019. https://boingboing.net/2019/03/07/tor-uplift.html

ZDNet. “Mozilla offers research grant for a way to embed Tor inside Firefox,” 5/19/2019. https://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-offers-research-grant-for-a-way-t…

Bleeping Computer. “Mozilla Firefox Tor Mode Likely to Start as a Browser Addon,” 7/19/2019. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/mozilla-firefox-tor-mode…

Cryptocurrency CoinDesk. “You Can Now Donate to the Tor Project in 9 Different Cryptocurrencies,” 3/22/2019. https://www.coindesk.com/tor-project-takes-cryptos-after-donors-request…

The Daily Dot. “How cryptocurrency has become a force in philanthropy,” 7/2/2019. https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/cryptocurrency-philanthropy-charity-bit…

CryptoGlobe. “Tor Project Starts Accepting Donations in 9 Different Cryptocurrencies,”3/23/2019. https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2019/03/tor-project-developers-now-a…

Advocacy