Google announces uProxy • Hacker News Board

Re: Google announces uProxy

#131

Post by bilbo0s » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:35 PM UTC

lallysingh wrote: post #101

simias wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While technically true "the US" here is only used as an example, I don't believe the endpoints have to be in the US (if I understand correctly any user of this extension can choose to become a proxy). An other point in the video (at around 0:50) mentions that you can select your route through trusted friends. If that's true it means that you can decide where your traffic transits. Now obviously if you use the binary…

If you don't trust Google, run it in Firefox.

Actually...

if you don't trust Google...

you probably shouldn't run it.

As it is pretty difficult to run reliable audits these days... I would not run it. You open yourself up to everything from the American Homeland Security people to Child Pornographers.

It's just not worth it.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#132

Post by tete » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:45 PM UTC

Okay, sorry I didn't read the source code yet, but don't pretty much all the standard block-censorschip-circumvention approaches work here? They don't mention anything that makes it a tool for actively circumventing censorship like... well, all the tools that exist today and have been analyzed throughly.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#133

Post by gibwell » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 8:43 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #119

gibwell wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that Google was once held in high esteem because it acted in an unusually trustworthy way for a large corporation. Almost everything they were fundamentally trusted on has turned out to be a betrayal. It is right and natural to question and distrust them until they have reestablished trust, which is likely to be a long process. You will notice that as well as the appropriate distrust, there are also comm…

This is a straw man. Nobody says you should implicitly trust Google, the second line in my comment talks about stopping knee-jerk reactions. People here started ranting about Google without even seeing what the actual product is, which is pretty much the definition of knee-jerk. I wouldn't mind people criticizing it if it's valid criticism, but this is just talking for the sake of talking.

Asking why we should trust a privacy related product from Google is legitimate. You are assuming that everyone will comprehend the trust model at a glance the way you do, but this is not so.

Your argument seems to be that people shouldn't state their opinions, but should instead do silent research until they come to what you think is the obvious conclusion.

That isn't how social discussions work.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#134

Post by magicalist » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #130

panarky wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I'm trying to avoid the Syrian secret services, then maybe NSA surveillance is the least of my concerns. This is a peer-to-peer proxy so you don't have to proxy with a friend in the USA. uProxy should be equally useful in avoiding US secret services (though Google's site doesn't highlight this use case).

But can you choose which peer to route through? Also important: can you choose what to allow to pass through your connection? Can I rule out the case of someone accessing a child porn site through my connection? If I were to run such a proxy, I'd only allow HTTPS or ssh traffic that I cannot possibly decrypt even if I wanted to, so I can't be held accountable for what I proxy. Same is probably true for the other end:…

> But can you choose which peer to route through?

Yes.

> Also important: can you choose what to allow to pass through your connection?

It doesn't appear that you can, but don't proxy for people you don't know, then. How on earth do you propose ruling "out the case of someone accessing a child porn site through my connection?" anyways?

As for the rest, it appears to just be a browser extension that proxies your connection, whether HTTPS or no. If you want to ensure that you're only going over HTTPS, install something like HTTPS Everywhere or block all connections that aren't secure.

This is like a VPN service but decentralized, with all the downsides that brings (have to find a peer, trust the peer, etc). It is not Tor, not a replacement for secure connections to sites, etc

Re: Google announces uProxy

#135

Post by antocv » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 9:11 PM UTC

jamesaguilar wrote: post #113

antocv wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the USSR and DDR there lived millions of people. Not everyone was abducted, the numbers are in the thousands. People fear lightening. We must not fear our government. Fear of the people who are supposed to represent you is not quite democracy. That is the point of oppression. To instill fear, not bu actually abducting and torturing half the population, just many enough to get the message across. Obey, citizen.

People should fear neither lightning (it's spelled without an e, by the way) nor the US government. At least if they are not involved nor plausibly confused for being involved with inciting terrorism. At least, if they want their fear to be a tool of survival rather than just an irrational impulse. They should fear car crashes and things like that. The US does not abduct people to get a message across, as much as you…

I didnt equate them. See you in 10 years from now, then Ill equate them.

For now, I was just making the observation that you dont need to activley supress millions of people to have a dictatorship - it is the fear that is keeping the milllions down and in line.

Examples are made of a few, and that process has already started with the Manning and Snowden treatments.

Not to mention the many that are left in a black bag in a bathtub by the CIA/MI6.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#136

Post by rryan » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 9:28 PM UTC

nwh wrote: post #91

esteth wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a chrome extension, so the source you see is the code executed by your browser.

That wasn't my point. Have you ever read the source of the extensions you have installed? No. If everybody has that mentality then nothing gets "checked" and malicious code makes it though.

I have read the source of extensions I've installed.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#137

Post by mayanksinghal » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 10:01 PM UTC

bjeanes wrote: post #94

toyg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the source will be readable and verifiable. that's all well and good, but if it's executed by an unverifiable binary build of Chrome (i.e. the one distributed by Google), it's not worth much. For what you know, Chrome might just detect the extension is installed and silently eavesdrop on all its calls. If this extension will work as-is on third-party Chromium builds compiled from public sources, then yeah, it can b…

And your "friend" on the other end would also need to be running it on Chromium from trusted source.

Don't proxy it through friends who don't use software audited and compiled by you/people-you-trust then.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#138

Post by caiob » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 10:17 PM UTC

Hulu, Pandora and other US-only internet services now available. Brought to you by Google.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#139

Post by hannibal5 » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 10:37 PM UTC

hrjet wrote: post #121

lwf wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, which they're obligated to do. As a company, you're bound to follow the laws of the countries in which you do business. You have the option to direct lobbying power against laws you feel are unjust.

Same could be said about individuals. Citizens are bound to follow the laws of the land.

But citizens are not forced to spy on their friends, like these companies are.

Re: Google announces uProxy

#140

Post by roninresearcher » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 11:03 PM UTC

svantana wrote: post #58

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #15

Nice! So I can use uProxy to access the Google Play store to buy a Nexus phone? ("Sorry, not available in your country") Thanks Google :-)

Remains only to figure out how to route the physical delivery via a US address... anyone know of such a service? I'd find that pretty useful actually. A lot of stuff on e.g. Amazon is only available for delivery to the US.

I personally use Aramex shop and ship account http://www.shopandship.com for US only products from Amazon. Buying from Google play is more difficult as they added a security procedure that the credit card has to be from US and the shipping address from should match for circumventing this, earlier one could use a US proxy and order it.