Hide your ID

VPN and TOR are not the same thing. Each serves a different purpose but can be used in tandom to enhance your privacy.

Their purposes differ in that one focuses on anonymity (TOR)  and the other on privacy (VPN)

VPN or Virtual Private Network is a service that provides servers, typically scattered around the planet, to act as an intermediary between your ISP and the internet. There are many of these providers out there but make sure to read their TOS before you choose. Also note the country where they are located because some nations have laws that could present a risk to your identity.

When you use a VPN whether via a browser plugin, desktop client or router configuration or mobile app, your traffic is encrypted when it leaves your network. It is sent to your chosen VPN provider's service to a server located in any number of geographic locations of your choosing. From there that traffic is decrypted and forwarded on to your destination be it a web site, chat, email or any other internet based service. Your ISP only knows you connected to the VPN's IP and nothing more. Your IP is one that belongs to the VPN service and is not tracable back to you.

Look for a VPN located in one of these nations which have strong privacy laws governing VPN provides. There may be others and this can change so do research.

• Switzerland
  Panama
  Malaysia
  Romania
  British Virgin Islands

 Verify that they do NOT retain any connection or transfer logs and that your payment data is not in any way linked to your usage.

TOR

The Onion Router is built of layers...like an onion. Originally developed by US Military's DARPA it has become known as the "Dark Web". While there is a lot of dark stuff there, I believe the main reason it is "dark" is that it is invisible to the rest of the internet including search engines. It can only be accessed via the TOR network. It uses a modified mozila browser as a base (Firefox) so all of your activites pass through a web interface.

TOR is not a VPN. It is not intended to hide you in the same way. TOR is a network of volunteers offering access to their computers and networks to serve as a relay to take your input and pass it along to another relay and eventually to an "exit node" and on to your destination. Because TOR exit nodes are well known IP many sites may block your access if you are using TOR. This is less of a problem for VPN's though it can happen there. At least a VPN allows you to disconnect and reconnect to a different location and IP. You can chose another ID on TOR but cannot select any specific country or route and you will still come out of a known exit node. Your ISP will know you connected to a TOR entry node.

TOR is all volunteer and there are no fees, not terms of service and no logs on activities. No one in between the enterance and exit nodes has a clue who you are or what you are doing. Everything between is encrypted and anonymous.

You can use both. Connect to your VPN first then to TOR and your ISP does not know your using TOR. Combining the two networks enhances your privacy.