When you use a Web browser and click a link to access a Web site or read an email, your Web browser sends a request to a remote computer asking it to send you the content you want to view. To understand what the Tor network is and how it works and why it’s important, you first need to know a little something about how the Internet works. The library initially complied with the request, but within days – following shows of support from its local community and national privacy advocates – the Tor relay was reinstated. The City Manager asked the Kilton Public Library to remove the Tor relay. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security contacted local law enforcement in Lebanon and expressed concerns that the Tor network could be used to conduct undetectable criminal activity.

In July 2015, the Kilton Public Library in Lebanon, New Hampshire implemented a computer called a “Tor relay” as part of a global effort to provide greater privacy and anonymity for users of the Internet. This article is intended to summarize the issues that were raised on this topic, to explain how The Seattle Public Library helps protect the privacy of our computer and network users, and to discuss what steps we’re taking to explore how we could expand our services to protect patron privacy.

This activity raised concerns for the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement. The issue of Internet privacy and anonymous web browsing in public libraries has received a lot of focus in the news lately after a public library in New Hampshire implemented a technology designed to ensure private Internet use.

Online tor browser