runasand

Can't upvote this enough. Thanks for running an exit relay!

Please email me at [email protected] with some details, and I will try to put you in touch with the right people.

You are correct. Tor was originally designed, implemented, and deployed as a third-generation onion routing project of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It was originally developed with the U.S. Navy in mind, for the primary purpose of protecting government communications. To help convince you that Tor is not an intelligence honeypot:

• The code is open source and available online. You can find it on gitweb.torproject.org.
• Tor's protocol specifications are also available online.
• If we were to introduce a backdoor in our own software, we would not only have a broken tool, but a trashed reputation as well.
• Tor is used by 500,000 people daily, including core members of the Tor Project.
• Volunteers all over the world run 3000 relays in total. Your client will pick three relays at random when sending traffic through the network.

Dear lho, I don't know who you are, but you are being very helpful and giving correct answers to lots of questions. Do you want a Tor t-shirt and some stickers? Message me :)

Aren't there significant legal risks to allowing people to proxy through your IP address?

Potentially, yes, and you need to be aware of this risk before setting up an exit relay. I recommend that you read Tips for Running an Exit Node with Minimal Harassment if you want to run an exit relay. If you just want to contribute in some way, consider setting up a bridge using Tor Cloud.