# User reports abuse, asks about tracing Tor users

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If this is your first introduction to Tor, sorry it's through a jerk.

There is nothing the Tor developers can do to trace Tor users. The same
protections that keep bad people from breaking Tor's anonymity also
prevent us from figuring out what's going on.

Some fans have suggested that we redesign Tor to include a backdoor.
There are two problems with this idea. First, it technically weakens
the system too far. Having a central way to link users to their
activities is a gaping hole for all sorts of attackers; and the policy
mechanisms needed to ensure correct handling of this responsibility are
enormous and unsolved. Second, the bad people aren't going to get
caught by this anyway, since they will use other means to ensure their
anonymity (identity theft, compromising computers and using them as
bounce points, etc).

This ultimately means that it is the responsibility of site owners to
protect themselves against compromise and security issues that can come
from anywhere. This is just part of signing up for the benefits of the
Internet. You must be prepared to secure yourself against the bad
elements, wherever they may come from. Tracking and increased
surveillance are not the answer to preventing abuse.

But remember that this doesn't mean that Tor is invulnerable.
Traditional police techniques can still be very effective against Tor,
such as investigating means, motive, and opportunity, interviewing
suspects, writing style analysis, technical analysis of the content
itself, sting operations, keyboard taps, and other physical
investigations. The Tor Project is also happy to work with everyone
including law enforcement groups to train them how to use the Tor
software to safely conduct investigations or anonymized activities
online.

You may find https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq-abuse.html.en#Bans
helpful.

Good luck.
```