The first relay (guard) receives your request, strips a layer of encryption, and directs traffic to the next relay.

Tor routes your traffic through at least three randomly selected volunteer-hosted relays (servers) from around the world, as follows: The purpose of the network is to cloak your location and online whereabouts, preventing entities that perform network surveillance and traffic analysis from tracing you. Tor, which is short for The Onion Router, is a free software solution that lets you communicate anonymously on the Internet by routing your traffic through a private network. While, in essence, these tools work towards the same goal, there are many differences between VPNs and Tor, much like in the VPN vs. Privacy protection tools such as VPN, proxy, Tor and even Incognito mode on various browsers can help you dodge trackers and prevent online profiling. This, in turn, helps them create personalized content such as ads, articles, and news by building it around your digital persona.

While online profiling isn’t necessarily wrong, it often gives online entities an edge by providing them with sensitive data about you. Privacy protection is paramount nowadays, particularly in these times when many users of online services believe privacy can’t be violated if you have nothing to hide. If you care about protecting your privacy and want to stay anonymous while browsing the Internet, then you’re no stranger to concepts such as VPN and Tor. However, the functionality, speed and effectiveness of these privacy tools differ in key ways. It’s well known that both Tor and VPNs can protect your online identity while connected to the Internet.

Tor browser with vpn how it works