Privacy & Anonymity
The Layers
Privacy is not a switch. There is no single button that makes you anonymous, and anything that claims to be one is lying. Real operational privacy is built the way security itself is built — in layers, each covering a different way you can be seen, each useful on its own, and much stronger stacked together. Oniomarchy is put together with that in mind: instead of one blunt “anonymous mode,” it gives you a set of independent controls you turn on to the degree the situation calls for.
The point of thinking in layers is that the layers are independent. You might route your whole machine through Tor for one task and only your browser for another. You might randomize your MAC on a hostile network but leave the browser normal. You pick the layers that match the threat, rather than paying the cost of maximum paranoia all the time.
The layers Oniomarchy gives you
Roughly from the network outward to the disk:
| Layer | What it hides | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-system Tor | Every connection from the machine, routed through the Tor network — your real IP from every service you touch. | The Tor bar panel |
| Browser-only Tor | Just your web browsing, isolated through Tor, while the rest of the machine stays direct — lower overhead, kernel-level isolated. | The Tor bar panel |
| The hardened browser | Your browsing identity — history, cookies, saved logins, tracking, your user-agent — cleared on exit and locked down. | The hardened Firefox |
| MAC randomization | Your hardware address — the fixed serial number your network card broadcasts to every network you join. | The MAC bar panel |
| Secrets & disk | Your stored data at rest — passwords, and whole encrypted volumes. | KeePassXC and VeraCrypt |
Choosing your layers
A few concrete combinations, to make the idea practical:
- OSINT on a person or company. Route the browser (or the whole system) through Tor so the target’s servers and any logging services don’t see your real IP; use the hardened browser so nothing you look at is stored and your fingerprint is reduced. MAC randomization doesn’t matter here — you’re not worried about the local network.
- On an untrusted network (a café, a conference, a client’s guest Wi-Fi). Randomize your MAC so you’re not trivially trackable across visits, and lean on the hardened browser. Add Tor if you don’t trust the network operator with your traffic.
- Handling sensitive findings. Keep credentials in KeePassXC and put loot in a VeraCrypt volume, so a lost or seized laptop doesn’t hand everything over.
The pages in this section each cover one layer: how it works, how to turn it on, and what it does and doesn’t protect. Read them as a menu, not a checklist — the right answer is the combination that fits what you’re doing.
A word on limits
Layers reduce exposure; they don’t grant invisibility. Tor hides your IP but not what you do once you log into an account tied to your name. The hardened browser forgets your session but can’t stop you from typing your real identity into a form. Privacy tools protect against specific, describable threats — so the useful question is never “am I anonymous?” but “what am I hiding, from whom?” Pick your layers to answer that.