• See how trackers view your browser

    From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Sun Mar 24 12:19:19 2024
    https://panopticlick.eff.org/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to JAB on Sun Mar 24 19:44:58 2024
    On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:19:19 -0500, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote: >https://panopticlick.eff.org/

    hmm... (using Tor Browser 13.0.13 w/ webtunnel bridge) . . .

    https://panopticlick.eff.org/ resolves to . . . https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/
    EFF logo A Project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
    See how trackers view your browser
    Test your browser to see how well you are protected from tracking and >fingerprinting:
    TEST YOUR BROWSER
    Test with a real tracking company ?
    How does tracking technology follow your trail around the web, even if
    you've taken protective measures? Cover Your Tracks shows you how trackers >see your browser. It provides you with an overview of your browser's most >unique and identifying characteristics.
    Only anonymous data will be collected through this site.
    Want to learn more about tracking? Read how it works with our guide:
    Learn More About Fingerprinting
    ...
    TEST YOUR BROWSER
    https://firstpartysimulator.net/kcarter?&aat=1 >https://firstpartysimulator.org/kcarter?try2=true&aat=1 >https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/results?&aat=1&fpi_whorls= ...
    Here are your Cover Your Tracks results. They include an overview of how >visible you are to trackers, with an index (and glossary) of all the
    metrics we measure below.
    Our tests indicate that you have strong protection against Web tracking.
    Is your browser:
    Blocking tracking ads? Yes
    Blocking invisible trackers? Yes
    Protecting you from fingerprinting?
    Your browser has a nearly-unique fingerprint
    ...
    [end quoted excerpt]

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Sun Mar 24 15:44:03 2024
    On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 19:44:58 +0100 (CET), D <J@M> wrote:

    Your browser has a nearly-unique fingerprint

    Bingo.....


    It was revealed that the FBI had requested Google to hand over the
    personal information of users who watched certain YouTube videos

    Court documents, which were not made public at the time of writing,
    reveal that Google, as part of a large-scale criminal investigation by
    the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), revealed the IP addresses,
    names, addresses, and addresses of YouTube accounts that watched some
    YouTube videos. It was revealed that they were ordered to hand over
    personal information such as phone numbers and user activity.

    https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20240324-youtube-investigators-demanded-your-data-google/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From D@21:1/5 to JAB on Sun Mar 24 21:23:14 2024
    On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 15:44:03 -0500, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:
    On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 19:44:58 +0100 (CET), D <J@M> wrote:

    Your browser has a nearly-unique fingerprint

    Bingo.....

    (using Tor Browser 13.0.13) https://blog.torproject.org/introducing-webtunnel-evading-censorship-by-hiding-in-plain-sight/
    Hiding in plain sight: Introducing WebTunnel
    by shelikhoo, ggus | March 12, 2024
    Today, March 12th, on the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, the Tor Project's
    Anti-Censorship Team is excited to officially announce the release of WebTunnel,
    a new type of Tor bridge designed to assist users in heavily censored regions >to connect to the Tor network. Available now in the stable version of Tor >Browser, WebTunnel joined our collection of censorship circumvention tech >developed and maintained by The Tor Project.
    The development of different types of bridges are crucial for making Tor more >resilient against censorship and stay ahead of adversaries in the highly dynamic
    and ever-changing censorship landscape. This is especially true as we're going >through the 2024 global election megacycle, the role of censorship circumvention
    tech becomes crucial in defending Internet Freedom.
    If you've ever considered becoming a Tor bridge operator to help others connect
    to Tor, now is an excellent time to get started! You can find the requirements >and instructions for running a WebTunnel bridge in the Tor Community portal. >What is WebTunnel and how does it work?
    WebTunnel is a censorship-resistant pluggable transport designed to mimic >encrypted web traffic (HTTPS) inspired by HTTPT. It works by wrapping the >payload connection into a WebSocket-like HTTPS connection, appearing to network
    observers as an ordinary HTTPS (WebSocket) connection. So, for an onlooker >without the knowledge of the hidden path, it just looks like a regular HTTP >connection to a webpage server giving the impression that the user is simply >browsing the web.
    In fact, WebTunnel is so similar to ordinary web traffic that it can coexist >with a website on the same network endpoint, meaning the same domain, IP >address, and port. This coexistence allows a standard traffic reverse proxy to >forward both ordinary web traffic and WebTunnel to their respective application
    servers. As a result, when someone attempts to visit the website at the shared >network address, they will simply perceive the content of that website address >and won't notice the existence of a secret bridge (WebTunnel).
    Comparing WebTunnel to obfs4 bridges
    WebTunnel can be used as an alternative to obfs4 for most Tor Browser users. >While obfs4 and other fully encrypted traffic aim to be entirely distinct and >unrecognizable, WebTunnel's approach to mimicking known and typical web traffic
    makes it more effective in scenarios where there is a protocol allow list and a
    deny-by-default network environment.
    Consider a network traffic censorship mechanism as a coin sorting machine, with
    coins representing the flowing traffic. Traditionally, such a machine checks if
    the coin fits a known shape and allows it to pass if it does or discards it if >it does not. In the case of fully encrypted, unknown traffic, as demonstrated in
    the published research How the Great Firewall of China Detects and Blocks Fully
    Encrypted Traffic, which doesn't conform to any specific shape, it would be >subject to censorship. In our coin analogy, not only must the coin not fit the >shape of any known blocked protocol, it also needs to fit a recognized allowed >shape--otherwise, it would be dropped. Obfs4 traffic, being neither a match for
    any known allowed protocol nor a text protocol, would be rejected. In contrast,
    WebTunnel traffic resembling HTTPS traffic, a permitted protocol, will pass. >If you want to learn more about bridges, different designs and how they work, >check out our video series.
    How to use a WebTunnel Bridge?
    Step 1 - Getting a WebTunnel bridge
    At the moment, WebTunnel bridges are only distributed via the Tor Project >bridges website. We plan to include more distributor methods like Telegram and >moat.
    1. Using your regular web browser, visit the website:
    https://bridges.torproject.org/options
    2. In "Advanced Options", select "webtunnel" from the dropdown menu, and click
    on "Get Bridges".
    3. Solve the captcha.
    4. Copy the bridge line.
    Step 2 - Download and install Tor Browser for Desktop
    Note: WebTunnel bridges will not work on old versions of Tor Browser (12.5.x).
    1. Download and install the latest version of Tor Browser for Desktop.
    2. Open Tor Browser and go to the Connection preferences window (or click on
    "Configure Connection").
    3. Click on "Add a Bridge Manually" and add the bridge lines provided on Step 1.
    4. Close the bridge dialog and click on "Connect."
    5. Note any issues or unexpected behavior while using WebTunnel.
    Or Download and install Tor Browser for Android
    1. Download and install the latest version of Tor Browser for Android.
    2. Run Tor Browser and choose the option to configure a bridge.
    3. Select "Provide a Bridge I know" and enter the provided bridge addresses. 4. Tap "OK" and, if everything works well, it will connect.
    Step 3 - Share feedback with us
    Your feedback is crucial to help us identify any issues and ensuring the >reliability of WebTunnel bridges. For users living in censored regions, we would
    love to hear how this new bridge's performance compares to other circumvention >methods such as obfs4 and Snowflake.
    Thank you to all the volunteers who have contributed to making WebTunnel possible
    The more tools we have at our disposal, the better we will be able to target our
    response, keeping censors at bay and enabling millions of users to access the >free and open internet. We first announced this new bridge type in October 2023
    with a call for testers asking Tor users for whom it was safe to use WebTunnel >to provide feedback. So many of you sprung into action and we received a lot of
    feedback, both public and private, that allowed us to make numerous stability >improvements to WebTunnel.
    Right now, there are 60 WebTunnel bridges hosted all over the world, and more >than 700 daily active users using WebTunnel on different platforms. However, >while WebTunnel works in regions like China and Russia, it does not currently >work in some regions in Iran.
    Our goal is to ensure that Tor works for everyone. Amid geopolitical conflicts >that put millions of people at risk, the internet has become crucial for us to >communicate, to witness and share what is happening around the world, to >organize, to defend human rights, and to build solidarity. That is why our >community's volunteer contributions are vital. Remember, there are many ways >to get engaged: You can run more bridges, Snowflake proxies and relays to >continue our fight against censorship and for free and open access to the >unrestricted internet.
    [end quote]

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  • From Retrograde@21:1/5 to All on Tue Mar 26 01:55:11 2024
    On 2024-03-24, D <J@M> wrote:
    On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:19:19 -0500, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:
    https://panopticlick.eff.org/

    hmm... (using Tor Browser 13.0.13 w/ webtunnel bridge) . . .

    https://panopticlick.eff.org/ resolves to . . . https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/

    Pretty fun and interesting. I expected to be relatively easily
    identified (niche browser on a niche OS) but still gave away lots more
    info than I'd thought of.

    The modern web sucks donkey balls. Gopher/Gemini rule!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From JAB@21:1/5 to fungus@amongus.com.invalid on Mon Mar 25 21:09:52 2024
    On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 01:55:11 -0000 (UTC), Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

    I expected to be relatively easily identified (niche browser
    on a niche OS) but still gave away lots more
    info than I'd thought of.

    VPN usage might cloak a person, but will the VPN service sell your
    cookies.

    Some do, and some don't...but I've never bought a subscription.

    Too many businesses want our cookies...including vehicle makers.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Mar 26 11:01:29 2024
    On Mon, 25 Mar 2024, JAB wrote:

    On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 01:55:11 -0000 (UTC), Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

    I expected to be relatively easily identified (niche browser
    on a niche OS) but still gave away lots more
    info than I'd thought of.

    VPN usage might cloak a person, but will the VPN service sell your
    cookies.

    Some do, and some don't...but I've never bought a subscription.

    Too many businesses want our cookies...including vehicle makers.

    And don't forget that if you use a commercial VPN service, they are at the mercy of the local government, so will gladly (well, perhaps not gladly),
    give up your personal information when forced to do so at gun point by the local police.

    Disable javascript and cookies and use tor. I think that is as good as it
    gets for regular people.

    Perhaps you could add another layer by browsing from yoru library or some coffee shop + tor, but if there are video cameras around that's not good.
    Oh, and of course don't bring your phone with you to the place as well. =)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to Retrograde on Tue Mar 26 10:58:50 2024
    On Tue, 26 Mar 2024, Retrograde wrote:

    On 2024-03-24, D <J@M> wrote:
    On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:19:19 -0500, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:
    https://panopticlick.eff.org/

    hmm... (using Tor Browser 13.0.13 w/ webtunnel bridge) . . .

    https://panopticlick.eff.org/ resolves to . . .
    https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/

    Pretty fun and interesting. I expected to be relatively easily
    identified (niche browser on a niche OS) but still gave away lots more
    info than I'd thought of.

    The modern web sucks donkey balls. Gopher/Gemini rule!


    What services and sites would you need on gopher/gemini in order to move
    to it permanently and never used the modern web again?

    And I'm not counting shopping/banking etc. but apart from those scenarios,
    what do you think is missing on gopher in order to use it consistently?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From JAB@21:1/5 to nospam@example.net on Tue Mar 26 07:15:52 2024
    On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 11:01:29 +0100, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

    browsing from yoru library

    Only library I used requires a login on their computers/WiFi, which
    IDs the user. I think this is a common practice in libraries

    https://histatelawlibrary.com/services/public-computer-and-internet-use/

    If using a person's laptop/tablet, they all have a finger print. I
    believe there are some 3,000 or so bussinesses that track users, and I
    assume a finger print could be used to narrow down suspects, along
    with location/IP data.

    Using once a "burner" tablet/laptop might work....use and pitch.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From D@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Mar 26 17:34:43 2024
    On Tue, 26 Mar 2024, JAB wrote:

    On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 11:01:29 +0100, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

    browsing from yoru library

    Only library I used requires a login on their computers/WiFi, which
    IDs the user. I think this is a common practice in libraries

    https://histatelawlibrary.com/services/public-computer-and-internet-use/

    If using a person's laptop/tablet, they all have a finger print. I
    believe there are some 3,000 or so bussinesses that track users, and I
    assume a finger print could be used to narrow down suspects, along
    with location/IP data.

    Using once a "burner" tablet/laptop might work....use and pitch.


    No, it depends on how you use it. If you use a modern browser from your
    laptop, then yes, if you use linux + api access or similar, then no.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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