Tor also provides hidden services that allow users to publish websites and services without revealing their location or the identity of their owners. The final relay decrypts the innermost layer of encryption and sends the original unencrypted data to its destination without any knowledge of the source IP address. Each relay decrypts a single layer of encryption to reveal only the next relay of the circuit in order to pass the remaining encrypted data onwards.

Tor encrypts data, including the destination IP address, multiple times and sends it through a virtual circuit of randomly selected relays. Tor directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer network consisting of more than seven thousand relays to conceal a user’s location and traffic from anyone surveilling the network with traffic analysis. Users located in countries with strict censorship laws can use it to access restricted sites like Facebook, Google, foreign news websites or forums privately. Tor offers anonymous browsing capabilities to people across the world.

How safe is tor