39 ms·

I don't understand—why would you want to be secretive about running a relay? Especially if you're running an exit relay, I'd expect that you'd be best off doing

by aendruk 12y ago

I don't understand—why would you want to be secretive about running a relay? Especially if you're running an exit relay, I'd expect that you'd be best off doing it in the open so that others can correctly interpret the bizarre traffic they might see. The challenge FAQ [1] even has two points addressing this: > Is it a good idea to let others know that I'm running an exit relay? Yes. Be as transparent as possible about the fact that you're running an exit relay... > Should I tell my ISP that I'm running an exit relay? Yes. Make sure you have a Tor-friendly ISP that knows you're running an exit relay... [1]: https://www.eff.org/torchallenge/faq.html https://www.eff.org/torchallenge/faq.html

madaxe_again 12y ago
why would you want to be secretive about running a relay? You're varying the "if you've got nothing to hide" argument. You would want to be secretive because spy agencies quite definitely ARE interested in who's running nodes, as if they know who runs the nodes, and where they are, shutting the thing down becomes possible. This is how they think. Strategic opportunity. Not what they can do with the data today, but what they could use it for tomorrow. What opportunities they might lose if they didn't have it. This is therefore how you need to think too, and why I think that volunteering this information is a bad idea.
- roryokane 12y ago
  He’s not just varying “if you’ve got nothing to hide”. He’s giving an active reason for sharing that you’re an exit relay, not just saying that you have no reason not to share, so you might as well. The reason for publicizing that you’re running a relay is that it reduces the probability of being falsely accused of doing illegal things that someone else was using your exit relay for, and it makes it easier for you to recover any confiscated computers. If you publicize your running of a relay in advance, then the prosecutor might see that fact and not bother prosecuting you, knowing that you were not the origin of the illegal traffic.

by aendruk 12y ago

madaxe_again 12y ago

why would you want to be secretive about running a relay? You're varying the "if you've got nothing to hide" argument. You would want to be secretive because spy agencies quite definitely ARE interested in who's running nodes, as if they know who runs the nodes, and where they are, shutting the thing down becomes possible. This is how they think. Strategic opportunity. Not what they can do with the data today, but what they could use it for tomorrow. What opportunities they might lose if they didn't have it. This is therefore how you need to think too, and why I think that volunteering this information is a bad idea.

roryokane 12y ago
He’s not just varying “if you’ve got nothing to hide”. He’s giving an active reason for sharing that you’re an exit relay, not just saying that you have no reason not to share, so you might as well. The reason for publicizing that you’re running a relay is that it reduces the probability of being falsely accused of doing illegal things that someone else was using your exit relay for, and it makes it easier for you to recover any confiscated computers. If you publicize your running of a relay in advance, then the prosecutor might see that fact and not bother prosecuting you, knowing that you were not the origin of the illegal traffic.