We want to enforce good security by default for our users. That is why it is a fundamental assumption of Tails to force all outgoing traffic to anonymity networks such as Tor.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) could be faster than Tor but they are not anonymity networks, because the administrators of the VPN can know both where you are connecting from and where you are connecting to and break your anonymity. Tor provides anonymity by making it impossible for a single point in the network to know both the origin and the destination of a connection.
Tor is being used equally by journalists, law enforcement, governments, human rights activists, business leaders, militaries, abuse victims and average citizens concerned about online privacy. This diversity actually provides stronger anonymity to everyone as it makes it more difficult to identify or target a specific profile of Tor user. Anonymity loves company.
Tor has partnered with leading research institutions, and has been subjected to intensive academic research. It is the anonymity network which benefits from the most auditing and peer review.
Tor has been received awards by institutions such as the [Electronic Frontier Foundation](https://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/2012), and the [Free Software Foundation](https://www.fsf.org/news/2010-free-software-awards-announced) to name a few.
