Tell HN: I Can't Login to HN with Tor
Having just now read that the NSA is stepping up its surveillance of the Internet, I decided to resume my previous practice of using the Tor Browser Bundle to hang out online. I'm doing this even when I have no reason to expect anonymity nor privacy.
My reasoning is that for me to transmit encrypted traffic will provide some cover for those who are working for legitimate regime change.
But I have to post this from the stock Firefox. When I try to login to HN with Tor, while my login is not rejected I'm not logged-in. That is, at the top right of the page is "login" rather than "MichaelCrawford".
Doubtlessly this is done on purpose to keep a lid on the crapflooders and linkspammers, however some means should be found to enable legitimate HN members to use Tor.
17 comments
[ 80.4 ms ] story [ 455 ms ] threadYou only "provide cover" for others if you run a relay, bridge, or exit node.
Anonymity means there is an equal distribution of probability that any device connected to a network is the one sending the message.
If you have 3,000 exit nodes and 5,000 exit nodes, but 10 people using the network, oppressive governments have a higher chance of fingering a culprit than if there were, say, 1,000,000 people using the network.
That's what is meant by providing cover here.
Why use Tor to access an account created outside of Tor? You've basically negated the reason(s) to use it.
I don't mean this to be hostile--I'm simply genuinely curious.
Edit: Wow, did not expect downvotes. I guess the reply above answers my question though. Legitimate people using it for legitimate purpose.. removing the ability for people to say 'everyone using Tor must have something to hide'.
Even if the website I'm visiting is unencrypted, no one is going to know where I am, who I am or what I am like.
To put it in marketing terms, banning Tor is simply a segmentation decision and another way in which HN isn't designed to be all things to all people.
My past communications with dang, under a different identity, led me to believe that they want to accommodate Tor users. They just don't want spam.
Business isn't always about maximizing shareholder value. Consider that Dave Johnson once shut Working Software down for an afternoon so we could see Malcolm X on the company dime.
So I'm not really talking about "maximizing shareholder value" and anyway, I think YC has partners rather than shareholders as is the case with most organizations optimized for investing [but I'm just speculating and being pedantic]. What I am talking about is market segmentation, and its role on HN. It's not trying to be Facebook and segments out people who want to use it like Facebook...and that's probably why I enjoy it more.
Hope all is well.
(It wouldn't surprise me too much if some TOR exits end up filtered transiently due to abuse - it might be worth refreshing your circuit (or waiting ~10mins for the TBB to do it as usual))