Dis, I think you might be thinking of “torrent” - then your machine becomes a node. In exchange for you offering up some computing power to the torrent network, you can access data on that network.
For TOR (The Onion Router), you only become a node on the network if you choose to. Otherwise, you ride ‘inside’ a fairly well protected network with two exceptions.
The space from you to the entry server is not encrypted. Likewise the space from your exit server to the endpoint is not encrypted.
Theory goes that since the world’s intel agencies can’t really get in TOR, they’ve probably set up lots of servers as entry/exit points so they can see the unencrypted traffic going into and out of the network. Makes sense.
I wouldn’t use it for anything illegal, but it does provide an amount of privacy. The question is, ‘how much’?
Thanks, Kit!