How to Blog Anonymously Using Tor

how to:How to Blog Anonymously Using Tor

Posted by Susannah Vila in Build Awareness , Blog for Change, Stay Safe and Anonymous Online

In the context of activism, blogging can often be a dangerous activity. Here is some information on how to blog without others finding out who you are.

Remember: The number one tip for blogging anonymously is to use common sense. Tactics and tools that work one day may not provide anonymity the next day. Be aware that using strategies for avoiding surveillance or censorship may call attention to yourself as an activist and put you in danger. Pay attention to your surroundings and look for security cameras and suspicious-looking people!

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Step 1.

Download a secure internet browser. Mozilla Firefox has been found to be the most secure of all the browsers.

Step 2.

Disguise your IP address using Tor. Working from computers that are shared? Download the Tor browser bundle. It can be saved on a thumb drive so you can take it with you wherever you go without needing to install anything. Working from your own computer? Download Tor and install it onto your hard drive.

Tip!

If Tor is blocked in your country, you can download the software from mirrors of the Tor site: https://www.torproject.org/mirrors.html.en or request a bundle by sending an e-mail to gettor@torproject.org from a Gmail address. Put the package you want (Tor-im-browser-bundle, Windows-bundle, Panther-bundle, Tor-browser-bundle, Source-bundle, or Tiger-bundle) anywhere in the body of your e-mail.

Tip!

How does it work? Tor is a network of proxy servers, so a proxy server requests a web page on your behalf, which prevents the web server from seeing your IP address.

Step 3.

Check to make sure Tor is working by turning it on in Firefox and visiting https://check.torproject.org/. You should get a message telling you: “Congratulations. You are using Tor."

Step 4.

Get an e-mail address. Since you are now using your browser that is equipped with Tor, it will be anonymous. Use this e-mail address to set up a new blog.

Tip!

Get an anonymous email address at http://www.hushmail.com/.

Step 5.

Write your posts offline. This protects your work in case you lose your web connection and allows you to write in a more private place than a cyber café.

Step 6.

Before you publish, edit the timestamp of your blog post so that it is a few minutes in the future.

Step 7.

Clear browser history!

Step 8.

When leaving a cyber café or other place with shared computers, consider wiping your files from the hard drive using a tool like Cleaner or Eraser.

Step 9.

If you don't want your blog to be picked up by search engines or other robots that crawl the web, create a Robots.txt page—just a text file that you can make using Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on a Macintosh—and place it at the root of your domain. For example, if your domain is www.example.com, place the file at www.example.com/robots.txt.

Step 8: If you don’t want your blog to be picked up by search engines or other robots that crawl the web, create a Robots.txt page (just a text file that you can make using Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on a Macintosh) and place it at the root of your domain. For example, if your domain is www.example.com, place the file at www.example.com/robots.txt.

Step 9: Anonymous promotion. Ping Servers (try pingomatic.com) send out notices (a “ping”) about your blog entry to several blog search engines like Feedster and Technorati. Once those sites list your entry—which is usually within a few minutes—you can take the entry down. Thus the news gets out rapidly and its source can evaporate within a half hour. This protects the blogger while also helping the blog entry reach people quickly.

Step 10.

Anonymous promotion. Ping Servers (try pingomatic.com) send out notices (a “ping”) about your blog entry to several blog search engines like Feedster and Technorati. Once those sites list your entry—which is usually within a few minutes—you can take the entry down. Thus the news gets out rapidly and its source can evaporate within a half hour. This protects the blogger while also helping the blog entry reach people quickly.

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