Tor and Privacy Guides
Use this page to pick the next guide, not to re-learn each topic. The library is intentionally small: each retained guide owns one reader job, and the full listed onion-address set lives only on the mirrors page.
Recommended reading order
The library is intentionally smaller than the previous version. Closely overlapping pages were merged so that each guide owns one clear reader task and can explain it without sending readers through several thin articles. Start with Tor Browser if the software is unfamiliar, then learn full-address and PGP verification before reading any market-specific material.
For a general threat model, use the OPSEC guide. It connects device, network, identity, account and metadata risks without pretending that one tool solves all of them. The three operating-system guides are separate because Tails, Whonix and Qubes make materially different trade-offs.
- Verify and configure Tor Browser.
- Recognize onion-service clones and use the PGP verification guide.
- Review the OPSEC threat model.
- Choose a narrower guide only when it matches the next decision you need to make.
Guide library
Installer verification and configuration
Installer verification, security levels, bridges and the limits of adding a VPN.
Clone recognition and full-address checks
Full onion-address comparison, source evaluation and signature checks.
Signature and key workflow
Fingerprints, signatures, local key generation, encryption and key maintenance.
Threat-model tiers and compartments
Threat-model tiers and compartmentalization across devices, networks and identities.
XMR wallet and chain boundaries
Protocol protections, wallet setup, acquisition trade-offs and common mistakes.
Public-ledger privacy limits
What a public ledger reveals and why privacy tooling cannot erase that model.
Credentials and PGP login protection
Unique credentials, recovery material and PGP-based account protection.
Custody, timers and dispute evidence
How custodial escrow works, what evidence matters and what escrow cannot protect.
Reputation and transaction records
Reputation evidence, transaction records, escrow decisions and safe finalization.
Seizures, exits and lifecycle evidence
Documented seizures, law-enforcement operations, exits and lifecycle evidence.
Tails
Amnesic sessions, persistence boundaries and the hardware workflow it suits.
Whonix
Gateway and workstation isolation, virtualization costs and host limitations.
Qubes OS
Hardware-backed compartmentalization, disposable qubes and sys-whonix.
Scope and evidence
These pages explain mechanisms and documented risks. They do not guarantee anonymity, account safety, transaction privacy or marketplace availability. Technical claims link to primary project documentation where possible; incident history links to court, law-enforcement or peer-reviewed records.
The address page is the only owner of the complete onion-address set. Editorial methods and correction limits are described on About TRZN Watch.