In a move that is sure to end well for the Department Of Homeland Security and the police in Lebanon, New Hampshire, officials have asked a New Hampshire public library to shut down its TOR node to prevent terrorism and other mean, nasty things.
The library was the first in the country to run a secure TOR exit node – essentially a system that allows users to web surf anonymously from anywhere in the world – and the DHS and local police quickly approached library officials after launch. The Lebanon Public Libraries are part of the Library Freedom Project, an effort to add more exit nodes in existing libraries. This would help web users desiring to remain anonymous on the Internet and ensures that folks browsing from their homes can’t be spied upon by touchy regimes. Wrote Vice:
“The use of a Tor browser is not, in [or] of itself, illegal and there are legitimate purposes for its use,” said DHS spokesperson Shawn Neudauer. “However, the protections that Tor offers can be attractive to criminal enterprises or actors and HSI will continue to pursue those individuals who seek to use the anonymizing technology to further their illicit activity.”
By this, logic, obviously, we learn that cars, guns, and bricks should be outlawed due to their potential for nefarious uses. More as the case develops.