Washington DC's Public Library Will Teach People How to Use Tor

Privacy concerns seem to be the elephant in the room nowadays. Some people are taking action to make sure they secure their systems from prying eyes, while others hide away under the logical fallacy “I’ve got nothing to hide.” But Jason Koebler from Motherboard writes on a promising new program out of Washington DC’s Public Library that wants to give people the tools to understand these issues, which also means giving them the tools to protect themselves from prying eyes.

As part of a 10 day series called “Orwellian America,” the library will attempt to give a balanced view on the issues that have made Americans ponder: how much of our personal freedoms are we willing to sacrifice in the name of freedom?

It will kick off with a screening of The Internet’s Own Boy, a documentary about Aaron Swartz. Then move into a reading on George Orwell’s 1984. The library also intends on moving beyond mere discussion and show its participants how to secure themselves online through the use of anonymous Tor software as well as enabling two-step authentication. The class will even show learners how to access public government files and track campaign finances, so you know where a party’s message is really coming from.

The barrier to entry to learn all the security hacks on your own can often seem daunting–most people don’t have the luxury of time to read through every forum or blog if they aren’t tech savvy. Perhaps, open classes, like this one, will help people make good choices about the future of their information and their right to protect it.