Tor (The Onion Router) is a software toolkit that can be used to make your Internet-based communication more secure. It’s been getting a lot more attention since the Snowden leaks, as most people are uncomfortable with the knowledge that the NSA is spying on everyone.

Of course, the NSA and its supporters characterize Tor as a tool for criminals and terrorists, but in fact it’s used by plenty of regular folks who just want some privacy on the ‘net. Certainly there are some people who use Tor to hide criminal activity, but those people also use telephones.

Note that if Tor is used improperly, it won’t completely hide your Internet activity. It also adds overhead to network communications, making browsing somewhat slower. Worse, many Internet-based services and sites now detect the use of Tor, and limit or block Tor connections. As a result, Tor has been falling out of favour lately.

Now Facebook, in a move that seems to have surprised everyone, has decided to back Tor in a big way. A version of Facebook is now available via Tor. This move has the potential to propel Tor into wider use, and sets a standard for the general acceptance of Tor by large service providers. Whether Facebook actually turns out to be the ‘killer app’ for Tor remains to be seen.