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One point the author neglects is that merely browsing an informational site is sensitive depending on social and political context. Examples: * Woman views inf

One point the author neglects is that merely browsing an informational site is sensitive depending on social and political context. Examples: * Woman views information on abortions or reproductive health care in a jurisdiction that persecutes over that * Queer person views information pertaining to LGBT services/issues in a jurisdiction or LAN that would punish them * Person views information on protests * Person reads the news about a crime[1] TLS does not solve this problem entirely (SNI/DNS leaks, traffic shape analysis) but it helps. I would not expect search engines/browsers to try to determine if a site publishes 'controversial' content especially since that depends on who you ask. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/05/fbi-withdraws-usa-today-subpoena-seeking-reader-identity/7561422002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/05/fbi-...

beardog 3y ago
Also, American ISPs are allowed to sell your browsing information. https://www.howtogeek.com/724472/do-isps-track-and-sell-your-browsing-data/ https://www.howtogeek.com/724472/do-isps-track-and-sell-your...
CaptainFever 3y ago
As you mentioned, TLS doesn’t solve this problem entirely since the ISP can still see what domains you visit. For those use cases, people should really be using Tor instead. In that case, if the website is public, HTTPS doesn’t really serve a purpose since the exit node isn’t going to get any private information. Perhaps HTTPS does help if the sensitive information is hidden in a wide-ranging domain (e.g. Reddit, Twitter) and because support for it is so widespread. In those cases, HTTPS is likely already supported. However, if the politically sensitive but public information is on a small domain, such as a personal blog or informational topical site, HTTPS serves almost no purpose there since it’s obvious what your activities are from the domain. In that case, one should definitely rely on Tor.

beardog 3y ago

Also, American ISPs are allowed to sell your browsing information. https://www.howtogeek.com/724472/do-isps-track-and-sell-your-browsing-data/ https://www.howtogeek.com/724472/do-isps-track-and-sell-your...

CaptainFever 3y ago

As you mentioned, TLS doesn’t solve this problem entirely since the ISP can still see what domains you visit. For those use cases, people should really be using Tor instead. In that case, if the website is public, HTTPS doesn’t really serve a purpose since the exit node isn’t going to get any private information. Perhaps HTTPS does help if the sensitive information is hidden in a wide-ranging domain (e.g. Reddit, Twitter) and because support for it is so widespread. In those cases, HTTPS is likely already supported. However, if the politically sensitive but public information is on a small domain, such as a personal blog or informational topical site, HTTPS serves almost no purpose there since it’s obvious what your activities are from the domain. In that case, one should definitely rely on Tor.