Legal FAQ

What is Emerald Onion?

Emerald Onion is a Washington State-based not-for-profit corporation and encrypted transit internet service provider. Emerald Onion works to protect privacy, anonymity, access to information, and free speech online. To further that mission, we operate high-capacity, fully open Tor exit routers with connectivity to the Seattle Internet Exchange.

By supporting transit of encrypted traffic, Emerald Onion protects the human rights and civil liberties of those subjected to censorship and surveillance. By implementing emerging privacy and anonymity-focused services, Emerald Onion promotes the development and normalization of those technologies. Through publishing, consulting, and advocacy, Emerald Onion furthers academic research and awareness for the development of new, privacy-preserving techniques.

What is Tor and Why Does Emerald Onion Run Tor Exit Routers?

Tor is a research project funded by a multitude of nonprofits, NGOs, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of State. Its primary goal is to provide people in hostile environments with unsurveilled and uncensored access to the Internet. Running Tor exit routers is our way of supporting people that have something important to read or say and undermining global mass surveillance by oppressive regimes.

To learn more about Tor, see:

• The Tor Project website: https://www.torproject.org/

• The Tor Project FAQ: https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq.html.en

• The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Tor Legal FAQ: https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html.en

How Can I Tell if an IP Address is Actually an Emerald Onion Tor Exit Router?

The Tor Project validates IP addresses of Tor routers at https://exonerator.torproject.org/. You can use this site to verify the status of Emerald Onion’s Tor routers by entering the IP address in question.

What Information Does Emerald Onion Retain?

Emerald Onion does not log any network information, not even on our perimeter firewall and router.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Safe Harbor

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) offers four safe harbors to protect ISPs from copyright liability for the acts of their users, provided that certain requirements are met (17 U.S.C. § 512). Emerald Onion is a section 512(a) “conduit” provider.

Emerald Onion Repeat Infringer Termination Policy

Emerald Onion does not have subscribers or account holders and cannot identify the IP addresses of individuals who send communications over the Tor network. Nonetheless, it is our policy to terminate the use of Emerald Onion by repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.

Email Spam

Emerald Onion does not provide or use any manner of email service on its premises, nor does it provide access to port 25 on its servers. Please direct your complaint to the mail server operator given in the email header so they can handle abuse according to their laws and policies.

Contact Info

We would be happy to answer any questions you have about our Tor exit routers that are not covered by this page. Please contact us at abuse at emeraldonion dot org.