Amnesia

Tails always starts from the same clean state and everything you do disappears automatically when you shut down Tails. Without Tails, almost everything you do can leave traces on the computer:

  • Websites that you visited, even in private mode
  • Files that you opened, even if you deleted them
  • Passwords, even if you use a password manager
  • All the devices and Wi-Fi networks that you used

On the contrary, Tails never writes anything to the hard disk and only runs from the memory of the computer. The memory is entirely deleted when you shutdown Tails, erasing all possible traces.

Persistent Storage

You can save some of your files and configuration in an encrypted Persistent Storage on the USB stick: your documents, your browser bookmarks, your emails, and even some additional software.

The Persistent Storage is optional and you always decide what is persistent. Everything else is amnesic.

Digital security toolbox

Tails includes a selection of applications to work on sensitive documents and communicate securely.

All the applications are ready-to-use and are configured with safe defaults to prevent mistakes.

Tails includes:

  • Tor Browser with uBlock, a secure browser and an ad-blocker
  • Thunderbird, for encrypted emails
  • KeePassXC, to create and store strong passwords
  • LibreOffice, an office suite
  • OnionShare, to share files, websites, and chat rooms over Tor
  • Metadata Cleaner, to remove metadata from files
  • and many more!

To prevent mistakes:

  • Applications are blocked automatically if they try to connect to the Internet without Tor.
  • Everything in the Persistent Storage is encrypted automatically.
  • Tails does not write anything to the hard disk. All the memory is deleted when shutting down.

Tor for everything

Everything you do on the Internet from Tails goes through the Tor network. Tor encrypts and anonymizes your connection by passing it through 3 relays. Relays are servers operated by different people and organizations around the world.

A single relay never knows both where the encrypted connection is coming from and where it is going to:

  • The 1st relay only knows where you are coming from but not where you are going to.
  • This 3rd relay only knows where you are going to but not where you are coming from.
  • The connection to the final destination is encrypted whenever possible to prevent the 3rd relay from reading its content.

This way, Tor is secure by design even if a few relays are malicious.

The Tor network has more than 6,000 relays. Organizations running Tor relays include universities like the MIT, activist groups like Riseup, nonprofits like Derechos Digitales, Internet hosting companies like Private Internet Access, and so on. The huge diversity of people and organizations running Tor relays makes it more secure and more sustainable.

Avoid online surveillance and censorship

Tor prevents someone watching your Internet connection from learning what you are doing on the Internet.

You can avoid censorship because it is impossible for a censor to know which websites you are visiting.

If connecting to Tor is blocked or dangerous to use from where you are, for example in some countries with heavy censorship, you can use bridges to hide that you are connected to the Tor network.

Avoid tracking and change identity

Tor also prevents the websites that you are visiting from learning where and who you are, unless you tell them. You can visit websites anonymously or change your identity.

Online trackers and advertisers won't be able to follow you around from one website to another anymore.

You can publish a blog or manage an email account entirely from Tails. If you only access it from Tails, it cannot be related to you. You can store documents and images related to this different identity in your Persistent Storage, keep your passwords in KeePassXC, have a dedicated email account in Thunderbird, etc.

"If you look at the way post-2013 whistleblowers have been caught, it is clear the absolute most important thing you can do to maintain your anonymity is reduce the number of places in your operational activity where you can make mistakes. Tor and Tails still do precisely that."

- Edward Snowden, Via X (Twitter)
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