ALCO's public website can now be reached through Tor as well as the ordinary web. The regular address, https://alcohq.com, is not changing. The Tor address is an additional route for visitors who prefer it.

What the Tor address is

Tor Browser can open a special kind of address that ends in .onion. This is ALCO's:

Official ALCO onion address: http://ibo7irwi35ssuaey2hisdb7deuhpiwtbnt6am5rf375pv3bfxk23ghid.onion/

Why browsing this way can help

When Tor Browser connects directly to an onion address, the connection is authenticated, so the service proves it controls that exact onion address. Publishing the address here helps you verify which one belongs to ALCO. It is also encrypted end to end inside Tor, and it does not pass through an exit relay, the point where ordinary Tor traffic leaves the network for the regular internet.

For visitors, this can help reduce how much of their network identity is exposed to the website they are visiting. Tor is one privacy tool. It does not make anyone untraceable or guarantee zero tracking.

It may also give some visitors another way to reach us when their ordinary connection is filtered. Tor itself can also be blocked, so availability depends on the network you use.

What it is not

This is not an outage backup. The Tor address is served from the same host as our regular website, so if that host is down, both routes are down. Treat it as an additional way to browse, rather than an independent backup service.

How to use it

Install Tor Browser from the official download page: https://www.torproject.org/download/.

  • Copy the onion address above from this published ALCO Insight and paste it into Tor Browser.
  • Check that every character matches before you load the page. A typing mistake can stop the address from working; copying it from this page is easier.

An ordinary browser will not open an onion address directly. Use Tor Browser, and expect pages to load a little more slowly than usual, because Tor routes your connection through several relays.

What to expect

The onion route is for public browsing only. You can read our pages, services and Insights. Contact forms, payments and sign-in redirect to our ordinary HTTPS site. They leave ALCO's onion service, although Tor Browser can still carry that HTTPS connection over Tor. Information you submit to a business or sign-in service still identifies you to that service.

Some links and services also lead away from the onion address to other sites. Those sites have their own privacy practices. Opening an external link or embedded service does not make the information you share with it anonymous.

Why we did it

Some people care about how they reach a website, and a business that offers hosting and security help should be willing to meet that preference. Offering the route adds a choice for visitors and leaves the regular site as it was.

If you are unsure whether Tor suits your situation, keep using https://alcohq.com. It remains available, and you do not need Tor to do business with us. If you have a question about the Tor address, ask through the usual contact page on our regular site.

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