National Public Radio (NPR) details the Department of Justice (DOJ) request for web records from DisruptJ20.org, which organized protests against the coronation of the current U.S. president, in Government Can Search Inauguration Protest Website Records, With Safeguards and Justice Department Narrows Request For Visitor Logs To Inauguration Protest Website. (The second story has the specifics on the demand.)
The narrowed DOJ request excludes:
f. DreamHost shall not disclose records that constitute HTTP requests and error logs.
A win for casual visitors this time, but no guarantees for next time.
The NPR stories detail this latest governmental over-reaching but the better question is:
How to avoid being scooped up if such a request were granted?
One word answer: Tor!
What is Tor?
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
Why Anonymity Matters
Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location.
What’s your default browser?
If your answer is anything but Tor, you are putting yourself and others at risk.