A well-known consumer-operated network, run by the Tor Project [1], provides exceptional levels of anonymity. The web browser, Tor Browser, is well worth investigating as a tool for blocking trackers and improving anonymity: Tor Browser prevents someone watching your connection from knowing what websites you visit. This article explores an intriguing open source tool called OnionShare [2] that makes use of the Tor network to allow secure file sharing. OnionShare even supports online chat and web hosting.

In addition to Linux, OnionShare is available for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, as well as macOS, iOS, and Android. The curious name OnionShare comes from the fact that online activity is hidden behind several layers of security. The layers are peeled back one by one as the packet is forwarded, and each router only sees the layers needed to receive and send the packet. The name Tor is actually an acronym for "The Onion Router," and this type of anonymous delivery is known as onion routing. Tor Browser is stripped down (without plugins that leak data) to make using the Tor network as simple as possible, and it is optimized to use the Tor network's anonymous, user-supplied access points.

Detailed documentation for installing OnionShare on Linux is available at the project website [3]. You'll find OnionShare packages in both Flatpak and Snap formats. OnionShare lets you fire up a web server on your local computer, expose that web server to the Tor network, and ensure that access is only available for users that are welcome. In addition to built-in software and infrastructure security, you can use private keys to lock out user access.

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