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What the Tor Watch onion is, in plain English

If you have only ever used normal websites, an onion address can look like a typo. Here is what it actually is.

  • First visit
  • 4 parts
  • Checked

1An onion service

Tor Watch runs as an onion service: a site that lives inside the Tor network instead of on the regular web. Both you and the site stay behind several relays.

2The address

Instead of a name like example.com, the tor watch onion address is a long string ending in .onion. It is generated from the service's cryptographic key.

3Why only Tor Browser

Regular browsers cannot route traffic through Tor, so the torwatch URL simply fails to load in them.

4What that means for you

You need Tor Browser, a correct address and a bit of patience, because pages travel through several relays.