"Article 5 eV, a civil rights group helping to maintain the Tor network, has reported that German police raided the private address where the non-profit was registered.
The authorities came knocking at the Essen-based office on August 16th, 2024, the group said, with armed officers spending nearly two hours in the office. Article 5 eV facilitates Tor network by operating its exit nodes.
“There are obviously still people working in German law enforcement today, who think that harassing a node-operator NGO would somehow lead to the de-anonymization of individual Tor users. At least that is what they claim in the paperwork,” Gero Kühn, the leader of the group, said…"
This is insane.
Stuff like this makes me want to run a Tor node out of spite
Get a distinct line in a dedicated room.
That way when they confiscate all the equipment, it will only be the equipment used on that Tor network.
This is the official advise from the Tor project, by the way
Silly question but how would they know that that it the Tor equipment? Wouldn’t the just come and take it all?
You should call the local police office ahead of time and tell them you’re going to operate an exit node. Then literally label everything so that when they come in the future, they know what to take. Like I said, its best to literally have this project in its own room. Like a closet. So its very clear which equipment is used for your exit node.
Again, the Tor Project provides boilerplate letters for these things. Law enforcement usually thanks you. Remember, they use Tor too. Of course, most officers are dumb, but at least someone in their office should know about Tor at this point.