With the current ongoing row between China and Google Inc., in regards to the country’s media censorship efforts and a continued intrusion on online privacy of users, Google has now stepped up its support for user privacy campaign called, Project Tor. This project has been initiated for the sole purpose of maintaining user privacy and creating a more robust environment, wherein the users can step over the media censorship imposed by certain countries all around the world.

Since the post 9/11 security measures, almost all online companies are required by law to surrender the data that they collect on user behavior to law enforcement agencies, as and when summoned, in the name of national security. However, this security measure although is essential part of maintaining security, yet has garnered a fair amount of criticism and calls for renewed methods through which online privacy of the users can be maintained.

Google has its own reasons for supporting Tor and one of those reasons is the users themselves, that are an integral part of the company’s success and continued growth. The search industry behemoth has always been a strong advocate of user privacy and is well known for the stringent privacy policies that the company follows even in its own services.

According to Google,

“Why is anonymity online so important? Companies
like Google have privacy and opt-out policies, but not everyone has
this stance. Corporations, nations, criminal organizations and
individuals want your information. Companies collect information on
your web browsing habits and sell it or are sloppy when it comes to
protecting it from identity thieves. Others can threaten lives, from
repressive nations tracking down outspoken journalists, to abusive
spouses or stalkers who want to find out where their victims are
hiding; from enemy military forces trying to find a communications link, to criminals who know when law enforcement is watching online.”

Via Read Write Web