tor any reason why your 15yo teen would be using this

[surreysnapper]

other than trying to prevent having a digital footprint?

Darkweb browser isn't it? Drugs. Porn. Dodgy chatrooms. Exam papers. Just being bored and curious about the dark web 🤷‍♀️

Do you have any filtering on your router? The Tor browser will get around that, it's like having a VPN to outside the house. It does normal web browsing and anonymises the user at the same time. (As well as accessing the Onion network, which is where some grim/illegal sales sites live)

Curiosity?

Piracy maybe? a lot of the popular torrent sites are tor-only now. If he's into nerdy computer stuff he probably just thinks it's "cool" because it genuinely does anonymise you, but it's slow to use as a result.

Because it’s the “cool” thing all the kids do. Trust me, it’s probably out of curiosity. I doubt he’s hiring a hit man off the dark web.

You don’t need to be dodgy to use a VPN or tor. I believe actually more people should use an anonymising device given how our data is everywhere and sold for cash.
I would say it is quite typical of teenagers to use one.
I use Psiphon on phone and nordvpn on home computer.

Your teen might be accessing or downloading copyright protected material such as music or movie, accessing geography restricted streaming service - Netflix US instead of Netflix uk, posting on forums and wishing to hide your IP address as it is accessible to moderators , .... there are tons of reasons which are not lo link to the darkest side of the wen

Using what?

It is in the title, the first word “ Tor” which is an acronym for “ the onion router” , it just hides your identity.

It was indeed my daughter who told me I was stupid not to use one and she not only installed them on my devices but also explained me how to use it. Now I get ads in Norwegian , Spanish, ..... depending on which country I pick

Using what? Is there a picture?

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It is in the title, the first word!!!!!!!

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Privacy. You need to unclench - and recognise that 15 is old enough to want privacy from you as well as from general surveillance.

Most likely a mix of streaming stuff that's restricted in the UK, downloading movies/music and the "cool" factor.

It wouldn't worry me. There are plenty of reasons the most likely is they've been downloading something such as games or movies.

*tor
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It is in the title, the first word!!!!!!!

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Ok and for people who have no idea what that means why make them feel stupid? I have a 13 and 14 year old and didn't know what it meant

Two posters said using what, not what is that. And in the previous message I explained what tor is. So, one of MN favourite, read the thread

I have used Tor to enable me to watch the BBC when I'm not in the UK. They could be using it to watch things from the US?

It's a VPN...for many people it's nothing to do with the Dark Web at all. It's just a way to confuse things so the BBC doesn't know where I am in the world.

Drugs, buying weapons, porn, fake drivers licence, card skimming, niche and extreme chatrooms, exam papers, curiosity

I use a VPN when I start looking at ticket fares to fly to Europe from Australia. Companies use and store your flying history and enquiry so they know I always fly in July, so the fare i will get will be higher because my internet footprint says so. However if I use another IP address even within Australia, they might want to attract me with a better fare and by the time I confirm and start filling my name and details, they can't change the fare.

If it ever happened to you, you start looking for booking flights or hotels and very quickly the price goes up, it has most likely to do with them knowing it is you than a response to other users booking.

Deleting cookies and clearing internet history doesn't clear all your data.

Using a VPN is absolutely legal and if you ever use public Wifi you should 100% use a VPN because it also encrypts your data, including banking or other sensitive details.

Other very legitimate use has to do with protecting your privacy, you want to go online and search for a divorce lawyer without having the risk to receive ads on that.

If you think in 2019 that what you do online doesn't matter because you are doing nothing wrong you are very naive as I was. And I have to thank my DD for opening my eyes.

I thought it was recommended to I use a vpn.

Likely to stream TV from other countries. Or maybe just to not be traceable. I wouldn't be particularly concerned about it, using a vpn is often good internet safety practice.