FYI: Tor Browser is very much still a thing and getting updates

The Tor Browser, which strives to provide anonymity online rather than the limited data sharing internet companies call "privacy," has reached version 12.5, a milestone that brings usability and accessibility improvements alongside attention to legacy issues. The name Tor stands for "The Onion Router" and refers to a method of …

[StrangerHereMyself]

Firefox

For me, the best solution would be to include Tor in Firefox's Private Browsing Window. This would bring millions of Tor users and would be a serious boon for Firefox itself, which has been languishing in terms of PR. They actually had plans for this, but for some shady reason they decided not to go ahead with it. I suspect LEA and government asked them to shelve the idea, for this would make tracking people's internet movements a lot more difficult. And oh, think of the children!

[mpi]

Re: Firefox

Brave browser has this feature.

And the problem is, more users isn't necessarily good for the Tor network, because a user isn't also a node.

[Piro]

Re: Firefox

I'd be concerned that Tor nodes will be loaded down by an excessive amount of adult video streaming.

They're probably used for worse filth anyway, but still.

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Firefox

That would be a problem but one that is solvable if the adult video websites host a Tor server. It would be presumably beneficial for them too given that their customers appreciate privacy.

Also the addressing would be a problem, but some hardcoded .onion aliases for any participating site would probably help.

[Red~1]

Re: Firefox

Tor browser can recognise a Header of Onion_Location = "http://your.onion/current_page" which will either suggest the user to visit the onion site or automatically take them there based on their tor browser settings

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Firefox

That is still going to be leaking DNS requests which largely negates the usefulness of Tor.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Firefox

From some analysis I've done on my websites it appears most Tor users to hit the sites are trying to break in, so we automatically ban all known anon proxies.

We should aggressively protect anonymity, but that does not equate to allowing people to be unaccountable and walk away from the consequences of what they say and do online as that is exactly what caused the current mess in social media is about.

[Orv]

Re: Firefox

I'm actually agnostic on that. I think there are sites where blocking Tor nodes makes sense. I think sites shouldn't do it as a knee-jerk reaction, though, only as a reaction to a deliberate policy concern.

A lot of sites block Tor from posting content, which makes sense; I'm less convinced that blocking Tor users from *reading* content makes sense in most cases.

[TheMaskedMan]

"This would bring millions of Tor users"

Might this not overwhelm an already slow network?

[StrangerHereMyself]

No, since Mozilla was planning to add many exit nodes to the network to handle the expected traffic.

Also, the PR could entice other entities to add nodes to the network.

[3arn0wl]

It's been my default browser for years

I wish I could persuade others to use it, so I could use Onion Share too.

[MachDiamond]

Great for searches

I do most of my research using TOR. The last thing I want is my search history for chemistry related things saved and then subpoenaed by some TLA of just flagged and forwarded to them. I can often be doing several things at the same time so while a search for a pressure cooker and a strong oxidizer can be fine on their own, both in a short time frame might cause enquiries to be made. In reality, I'm trying to learn how to cook something in the pressure cooker and also trying to find where I can get some chemicals to refine some metal scrap, I'm not making a bomb. I'm very attached to my arms, thank you very much. Rather than worrying about how somebody could interpret my very random search patterns, it's much better to just keep them private.

[Rustbucket]

Re: Great for searches

Could you just use a VPN and a browser in private mode and get the same results without straining the Tor network for relative trivia?

[Orv]

Re: Great for searches

Probably, but search traffic is pretty low bandwidth. I don't see it being an issue. Besides, you want *some* of the traffic to be trivial. If every query over the network is something illicit then the illicit stuff stands out more.

[MachDiamond]

Re: Great for searches

"Could you just use a VPN and a browser in private mode and get the same results without straining the Tor network for relative trivia?"

I don't have a need for a VPN so it would just be yet another monthly (or annual) expense. The odd search isn't a big load. The heavy users that are harvesting warez would do better to get the VPN. Are you certain that "privacy" mode is doing what you think it does?

[MyffyW]

Re: Great for searches

I do sometimes wonder where my own search histories would lead the inevitable state or non-state snooper. I may have searched for a silicone dildo. Yes I also searched for details on a local heritage railway. No, I am not interested in exploring an intersection between the two.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Great for searches

Steam driven?

Sorry, it was stronger than me.

:)

[Anonymous Coward]

It is super handy

Getting news relating to a certain “special military operation” without the hassle of a full blown anonymous VPN is difficult when UK residential ISPs have all been ordered to censor certain news outlets. Thanks to Tor Browser, us plebs can still visit websites we aren’t meant to see! My only gripe is on Windows and Linux, the software insists on installing itself to the user profile area instead of a much better-protected system-wide install location, despite decent secure update mechanisms being available.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It is super handy

Oh do go on comrade, which news sites in the UK are actually being blocked from telling us what is going on in Ukraine?

[DrXym]

It's very handy too

It's more convenient than firing up a VPN and a useful way to get around stupid netfilters that zealously block content, often for absurd reasons.