The Tor Project announced it has merged with the Tails OS project, in an effort to improve collaboration, reduce overhead, and improve users’ access to freedom-preserving options.

Tor is the leading privacy option for users trying to circumvent surveillance, designed from the outset to route traffic through multiple encrypted servers, masking a user’s browsing activity even when a network is being monitored. Tails OS is a Debian-based Linux distro that is designed to be run 100% from a USB stick. As a result, an individual can temporarily use any computer as their own by booting off of the USB stick, leaving not trace behind when they power the machine down and leave.

Catch our chat on the big merger between Tor Project and Tails OS!

The projects are joining forces to pool their resources and make privacy-preserving tools more readily available to at-risk individuals, as well as average users.

Countering the threat of global mass surveillance and censorship to a free Internet, Tor and Tails provide essential tools to help people around the world stay safe online. By joining forces, these two privacy advocates will pool their resources to focus on what matters most: ensuring that activists, journalists, other at-risk and everyday users will have access to improved digital security tools.

In late 2023, Tails approached the Tor Project with the idea of merging operations. Tails had outgrown its existing structure. Rather than expanding Tails’s operational capacity on their own and putting more stress on Tails workers, merging with the Tor Project, with its larger and established operational framework, offered a solution. By joining forces, the Tails team can now focus on their core mission of maintaining and improving Tails OS, exploring more and complementary use cases while benefiting from the larger organizational structure of The Tor Project.

The merger builds on 15 years of collaboration and solidarity between the two projects, but will allow Tails to tap into Tor’s resources.

“Running Tails as an independent project for 15 years has been a huge effort, but not for the reasons you might expect. The toughest part wasn’t the tech–it was handling critical tasks like fundraising, finances, and HR. After trying to manage those in different ways, I’m really relieved that Tails is now under the Tor Project’s wing. In a way, it feels like coming home,” says intrigeri, Team Lead Tails OS, The Tor Project.

A History of Collaboration

Merging the two projects will expand Tor’s focus, allowing it to address privacy and security issues beyond just the web browser.

Whether it’s someone seeking access to the open web or facing surveillance, Tor and Tails offer complementary protections. While Tor Browser anonymizes online activity, Tails secures the entire operating system–from files to browsing sessions. For journalists working in repressive regions or covering sensitive topics, Tor and Tails are often used as a set to protect their communications and safeguard their sources. The merger will lead to more robust treatment of these overlapping threat models and offer a comprehensive solution for those who need both network and system-level security in high-risk environments.

It will also open up broader training and outreach opportunities. Until now, Tor’s educational efforts have primarily focused on its browser. With Tails integrated into these programs, we can address a wider range of privacy needs and security scenarios. Lastly, this merger will lead to increased visibility for Tails. Many users familiar with Tor may not yet know about Tails OS. By bringing Tails within the Tor Project umbrella, we can introduce this powerful tool to more individuals and groups needing to remain anonymous while working in hostile environments.

Joining Forces a Win for Users

“Joining Tor means we’ll finally have the capacity to reach more people who need Tails. We’ve known for a long time that we needed to ramp up our outreach, but we just didn’t have the resources to do so,” intrigeri.

“By bringing these two organizations together, we’re not just making things easier for our teams, but ensuring the sustainable development and advancement of these vital tools. Working together allows for faster, more efficient collaboration, enabling the quick integration of new features from one tool to the other. This collaboration strengthens our mission and accelerates our ability to respond to evolving threats,” says Isabela Fernandes, Executive Director, The Tor Project.

The announcement is good news for the privacy community, and will be a major help to journalists, activists, and other at-risk groups who depend on such software for their life and work.