First Library to Support Anonymous Internet Browsing Effort Stops After DHS Email
https://www.propublica.org/article/library-support-anonymous-internet-browsing-effort-stops-after-dhs-email
A library in a small New Hampshire town started to help Internet users around the world surf anonymously using Tor. Until the Department of Homeland Security raised a red flag.
by Julia Angwin
ProPublica, Sep. 10, 2015, 11:20 a.m.
...In July, the Kilton Public Library in Lebanon, New Hampshire, was the first library in the country to become part of the anonymous Web surfing service Tor. The library allowed Tor users around the world to bounce their Internet traffic through the library, thus masking users’ locations.
Soon after state authorities received an email about it from an agent at the Department of Homeland Security.
“The Department of Homeland Security got in touch with our Police Department,” said Sean Fleming, the library director of the Lebanon Public Libraries.
After a meeting at which local police and city officials discussed how Tor could be exploited by criminals, the library pulled the plug on the project. ...
So much for "Live Free or Die"...