Tor

Ben Collier's 'Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy' examines the development, communities, and contested politics of the Tor anonymity network.

Drawing on immersive ethnographic fieldwork, Collier dispels common myths about Tor, details the different actor-worlds (engineers, maintainers, activists), and explores how Tor redistributes power in digital communication.

He analyzes the tensions between neutrality and political vision within the project and how Tor is used by everyday users, journalists, and activists worldwide.

The book also traces Tor's origins in U.S.

naval research and its adoption and maintenance by volunteer communities, highlighting maintenance practices as crucial to its functioning.

Collier argues for seeing Tor not merely as a criminal tool but as an infrastructure with broad implications for privacy, censorship, and the future of a decentralized internet.