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Tor Browser 12.0

blog.torproject.org

41–50 of 230 posts

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#41

Just FYI that HN is very anti-tor. I made this account via Tor just now to prove the point. It will be dead by default (unless someone "vouches" for it). It's a very user-hostile stance that HN takes (along with not letting you delete your account). It really makes you wonder what they're doing with all this data? Doxxing is almost a given.

> HN is very anti-tor

If by "HN" you mean the site technology and administrative policy, this is quite untrue.

I always connect by Tor (simply because I connect to everything by Tor) and never experience any problems with;

  torsocks www https://news.ycombinator.com
FWIW my account here was created over Tor, and only later when I decided the site was kosher and a relatively friendly place did I decide to add personal details. I don't post here with any illusion of anonymity, rather Tor is part of my daily dealings with the internet for a generally pro-active security stance. I trust that a tool created by the US Navy with "defending and spreading democracy" in mind is fit to defend my own needs.

I hope that like Facebook, NY Times and the BBC, we may one day see a Hacker News hidden service onion address.

That said there does seem to be a negative attitude toward Tor from certain Cloud companies that Flares up here from time to time. They seem unable to reconcile individual desires for personal privacy technologies with their business model of defending free speech from DDOS attacks. It's a complex problem but I do wish they'd try harder yo get on-board with the programme in a world where threats to clients are at least as serious as those facing service providers.

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#43

I'm surprised that they haven't bundled Arti, their Rust-based tor client implementation. I will say I am thankful for Tor Browser, but any JavaScript-enabled browser seems like the wrong choice for privacy and security.

I installed the Tor Browser to access the Z Library a few days ago. I guess I shouldn't complain, but the downloads are very slow (I'm not sure if the problem is in my end).

Check Library Genesis (on the open web) before resorting to z-lib, as that's where z_lib got most of their content in the first place.

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#44

The inescapable fact about Tor is that its traffic patterns make you stand out prominently. Just the fact you’re using it automatically makes you interesting and worthy of a closer look. All well and good if you’re just maintaining a cookie recipe site on the dark web, but it’s rarely ever that, is it?

a closer look maybe, but unless they break Tor they'll only have a close look at your timing traffic. if you're worried, you could use a popular VPN to connect to Tor - using a VPN is less interesting. also, P2P app developers could consider running non-exit nodes in their clients for popular apps. there shouldn't be legal risks unless you're running an exit node, and this adds more noise to the signal of Tor users.

Using a VPN to connect to Tor can decrease anonymity. The Tor wiki has a whole page about the topic https://gitlab.torproject.org/legacy/trac/-/wikis/doc/TorPlu...

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#45

The inescapable fact about Tor is that its traffic patterns make you stand out prominently. Just the fact you’re using it automatically makes you interesting and worthy of a closer look. All well and good if you’re just maintaining a cookie recipe site on the dark web, but it’s rarely ever that, is it?

> but it’s rarely ever that, is it?

Maybe I'm unique, but my dark net activity is usually pretty tame. The number one reason I use Tor is because browsing onion sites reminds a bit more of how the web used to be in the late 1990s. Lot's of garbage of course, but a lot more serendipitous discovery than the web today.

Because of its anonymous nature Onion sites are inherently resistant to being swallowed whole by advertising. Nobody on the dark web is creating "content marketing", if someone is trying to sell you something it's obvious. You're not the product on the dark web.

I know it's wishful thinking, but I often hope for a parallel web to really thrive on Tor.

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#46
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it always 7? I seem to remember it being like 3-4?

For a circuit to clearnet it's 3. Guard --> Middle --> Exit. For a onion service it's 6 and the connection is a bit more complicated [0]. The speed varies from very fast to unbearable depending on your circuit and how bad the ddos is at that moment. [1] You can try to create a new and hopefully faster circuit by clicking on the onion symbol on the left in the address bar. [0] https://github.com/mikeperry-tor/vanguard…

My mistake, updated my comment

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#47

Just FYI that HN is very anti-tor. I made this account via Tor just now to prove the point. It will be dead by default (unless someone "vouches" for it). It's a very user-hostile stance that HN takes (along with not letting you delete your account). It really makes you wonder what they're doing with all this data? Doxxing is almost a given.

> Just FYI that HN is very anti-tor. I made this account via Tor just now to prove the point. It will be dead by default (unless someone "vouches" for it).

Also, Wikipedia blanket-bans Tor because it make trivial to avoid bans and blocks.

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a closer look maybe, but unless they break Tor they'll only have a close look at your timing traffic. if you're worried, you could use a popular VPN to connect to Tor - using a VPN is less interesting. also, P2P app developers could consider running non-exit nodes in their clients for popular apps. there shouldn't be legal risks unless you're running an exit node, and this adds more noise to the signal of Tor users.

Using a VPN to connect to Tor can decrease anonymity. The Tor wiki has a whole page about the topic https://gitlab.torproject.org/legacy/trac/-/wikis/doc/TorPlu...

the scenario I'm describing is "You -> VPN/SSH -> Tor" and your link says it's a fine idea.

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#49

The inescapable fact about Tor is that its traffic patterns make you stand out prominently. Just the fact you’re using it automatically makes you interesting and worthy of a closer look. All well and good if you’re just maintaining a cookie recipe site on the dark web, but it’s rarely ever that, is it?

Sounds like I should use my session for multiple unrelated activities while using Tor, to cover only for one of them (before changing my fingerprint)

Re: Tor Browser 12.0

#50
post #37

The inescapable fact about Tor is that its traffic patterns make you stand out prominently. Just the fact you’re using it automatically makes you interesting and worthy of a closer look. All well and good if you’re just maintaining a cookie recipe site on the dark web, but it’s rarely ever that, is it?

There is also the inescapable fact that Tor was created by US Intelligence, specifically the US Naval Research Lab[0]. And according to FOIA documents it continues to receive a huge chunk of funding & resources from US Intelligence, particularly from the United States Agency for Global Media (formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors), which supervises our propaganda channels Voice of America and Radio Free Europe…

You don't need (outdated) FOIA documents for that... Go to https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors/ and you will see that they get money from the US government, if you want to know more about how much, go check the IRS 990 forms [1] or check the blog post that explains the 990, it also gives clear percentages on how much comes from where, [2]

[1] https://www.torproject.org/about/reports/ [2] https://blog.torproject.org/transparency-openness-and-our-20...

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