“Tor metrics are the ammunition that lets Tor and other security advocates argue for a more private and secure Internet from a position of data, rather than just dogma or perspective.”
— Bruce Schneier (June 1, 2016)
The Tor network is one of the largest deployed anonymity networks, consisting of 6500+ volunteer-run relays and 3,000,000+ users. In addition, there are 1,900+ volunteer-run bridges allowing access to the network in places where Tor is censored for 40,000+ users. Users, advocates and journalists can better understand the Tor network through the statistical analysis available on Tor Metrics. Relay operators and bridge operators can also use these statistics and query tools to better understand how their contribution fits into the network.
The large userbase has made it attractive for researchers to analyse usage of a real deployed anonymity network. Metrics can also be useful to developers of Tor to achieve insight into performance and scalability issues as well to learn about attempts to block access to the Tor network. Analysing a live anonymity system must be performed with great care so that the users' privacy is not put at risk. Any metrics collected must not undermine the anonymity or security properties of the Tor network.
Let us know if we're missing anything, or if we should measure something else.
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