4 ms·

I'm fairly new to whole world of increased internet privacy, so I'm curious of the benefits of using a VPN or Tor. I'm not a political activist or engaging in i

by aquova 9y ago

I'm fairly new to whole world of increased internet privacy, so I'm curious of the benefits of using a VPN or Tor. I'm not a political activist or engaging in illegal activity, I just want my personal data being passed around as little as possible (preferably by spending little to no money to do so). Is using Tor worth the effort? What are the benefits? Or do I simply use Chrome and resign to my fate like nearly everybody else?

jerheinze 9y ago
> Is using Tor worth the effort? Definitely. > What are the benefits? Because of its 3-hop design, a non global passive adversary (GPA) would need to control both your entry node and the exit node to de-anonymize one of your Tor circuits. In addition, Tor circuits generally last for 10min only. Also using the Tor Browser you get stream isolation meaning that you get different Tor circuits for different websites. You can also setup your own non-exit node and connect to it to ensure that no single point in your Tor circuit controls both the entry node and the exit node.
- derefr 9y ago
  > a non global passive adversary (GPA) would need to control both your entry node and the exit node to de-anonymize one of your Tor circuits That's not a benefit, that's a feature. A benefit involves a use-case. What does a person gain from not having their traffic de-anonymized? The described user is someone who doesn't have any particular activities they need to keep secret or risk jailtime. So, for them, what's an example of something that could happen differently in their real life if they used Tor vs. if they didn't? (This wasn't a rhetorical question; there are such use-cases. I'm just commenting to prod you into zooming out a bit from "privacy is its own end" to thinking more about what regular people care about and how privacy helps them get it.)
sam_goody 9y ago
For starters, don't use Chrome. Chrome sends a whole lot of data to Google (and possibly to their data-sharing partners) such as, at the least, what sites you visit and how long you are on each. When combined with Analytics, cookies, profiling and whatever G services you use, and the fact that Chrome is a program (not a site) connecting that all, you have pretty much lost any legitimate hope to privacy before you begin. Use HTTPS everywhere is a no-brainer, as at least the middle steps won't see the data. IMO, using a commercial VPN is just not that difficult and the speed is close to native, so its a lot easier than TOR.
b3lvedere 9y ago
Basically it comes down to this: What you don't want people to know, you don't tell them. So if you don't want personal data floating around everywhere, don't tell them personal data. Or just be a nice happy good citizen in the normal world. What you do in other worlds should then not be mixed with the normal word.

by aquova 9y ago

jerheinze 9y ago

> Is using Tor worth the effort? Definitely. > What are the benefits? Because of its 3-hop design, a non global passive adversary (GPA) would need to control both your entry node and the exit node to de-anonymize one of your Tor circuits. In addition, Tor circuits generally last for 10min only. Also using the Tor Browser you get stream isolation meaning that you get different Tor circuits for different websites. You can also setup your own non-exit node and connect to it to ensure that no single point in your Tor circuit controls both the entry node and the exit node.

derefr 9y ago
> a non global passive adversary (GPA) would need to control both your entry node and the exit node to de-anonymize one of your Tor circuits That's not a benefit, that's a feature. A benefit involves a use-case. What does a person gain from not having their traffic de-anonymized? The described user is someone who doesn't have any particular activities they need to keep secret or risk jailtime. So, for them, what's an example of something that could happen differently in their real life if they used Tor vs. if they didn't? (This wasn't a rhetorical question; there are such use-cases. I'm just commenting to prod you into zooming out a bit from "privacy is its own end" to thinking more about what regular people care about and how privacy helps them get it.)

sam_goody 9y ago

For starters, don't use Chrome. Chrome sends a whole lot of data to Google (and possibly to their data-sharing partners) such as, at the least, what sites you visit and how long you are on each. When combined with Analytics, cookies, profiling and whatever G services you use, and the fact that Chrome is a program (not a site) connecting that all, you have pretty much lost any legitimate hope to privacy before you begin. Use HTTPS everywhere is a no-brainer, as at least the middle steps won't see the data. IMO, using a commercial VPN is just not that difficult and the speed is close to native, so its a lot easier than TOR.

b3lvedere 9y ago

Basically it comes down to this: What you don't want people to know, you don't tell them. So if you don't want personal data floating around everywhere, don't tell them personal data. Or just be a nice happy good citizen in the normal world. What you do in other worlds should then not be mixed with the normal word.