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Dear Free Software Supporter,

Here's your chance to discover the stories of people who protect their
privacy with free software. We dug deep to reveal some of their
stories, which is not easy because many people who care deeply about
privacy choose to stay anonymous. Some of the stories are taken from
research the Tor Project conducted to show who is using their browser
and why. For that reason, they are reported here with special thanks
to Tor. But the biggest thanks goes to all the people who dare to tell
their stories in the first place.

With our article ["We have nothing to hide, only everything to
protect,"][1] we started a series of posts on privacy. And in the
previous [installment][2], we reported ongoing legislation that
threatens end-to-end encryption and called you to take action. **This
third installment will introduce you to people who live in countries
that disregard their rights, but who nevertheless fight for their
rights by using free software to protect their privacy.** We all
deserve privacy, and, as you will see, it is vital for people living
in a country that lacks legal certainty.

[1]: [link removed]
[2]: [link removed]

## Meet people who use free software that protect privacy

One of the people we found who use privacy-protecting free software is
Alyssa Moore, who uses [Tor][3] to protect her identity. She is a
political activist who was harassed by her government for speaking
up. Moore affirms, "Tor allowed me freedom to publish my message to
the world without being personally persecuted for it."

[3]: [link removed]

Free software that respects its users' privacy helps people in
societies without legal certainty in their fight for democracy. "Tor
Browser/Orbot/Tails helped me so much during the 2019-2020 Hong Kong
protests [...]. It allowed me to read, write, and organize freely
during the protests," says Chao Li, a pro-democracy activist in Hong
Kong. In [Iran][4], [Saudi Arabia][5], and [China][6], the Tor network
helps people access censored websites like Wikipedia. Xiu Wang for
example can't stand it that China is restricting its inhabitants to
freely access Wikipedia and states, "Sometimes I use Tor to [get]
across the [Great Firewall]. Tor has provided me with a lot of help."

[4]: [link removed]
[5]: [link removed]
[6]: [link removed]

Tor conceals the source and destination of messages with IP address
obfuscation and encryption. Encryption is a key element of
privacy. Members of the queer community in Egypt, for example, are
increasingly [resorting to encrypted chats][7] in order to keep their
communication hidden from the prying eyes of the police. Many of them
are presented with [fake dating profiles created by the police][8] in
an effort to find people in the LGBTQ community and charge them with
"debauchery." Understandably enough, none of them wanted to publicly
talk about their experiences in detail.

[7]: [link removed]
[8]: [link removed]

You might be reading these stories living in a democratic country,
where citizens enjoy legal certainty. You might therefore deem
oppression as something that only happens far away and ask yourself
*what does this have to do with me?* Well, history shows that even the
best democracies have areas in which they struggle to exercise equal
treatment and fail to guarantee human rights for everyone who lives
within them. Even if you trust your government to never fail, you
should protect your privacy. In our next and last installment of this
series you will meet people who explain the reasons for this. Until
then, we invite you to tell your own story.

## Tell your own story

Now it's your turn. Let us and the world know why you use free
software to protect your privacy. Tell your story on [social
media,][9] starting your statement with "I use #freesoftware to
protect my #privacy because [...]"

[9]: [link removed]

In freedom,

Miriam Bastian
Program Manager

*Editorial note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the
people whose stories are told in this article.*

--
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