[tor-dev] design for a Tor router without anonymity compromises

[coderman]

a friend and i are working on a Tor router design that doesn't
compromise anonymity for convenience. [0][1][2][3][4]

we're soliciting feedback as part of a go / no-go decision on
continuing this effort.

in particular, the design is intended to meet the scrutiny of Nick M.,
Roger, and Mike P.  as the focus on support for Tor Browser and Tor on
each client indicates.

---

the design and prototype code is marked "copyright Tor Project Inc. by
assignment", which means that we're using a notary public to formally
assign copyright ownership to the corporate entity "Tor Project,
Inc.".

your comments will be taken into consideration, however, please defer
patches / code contributions under other owners (you) until assignment
complete.

---

last but not least, we're trying to eat our own dog food. all of our
planning, development, and operations use hidden services, called
Onion services in the document, and this bootstrap is more difficult
than expected. [5]

please provide feedback in reply on this thread or to me directly.[6]
assuming the project continues, we will have Onion services to support
collaborative development up soon.

best regards,
 and my thanks in advance for your scrutiny!



0. "Tor Enforcing Privacy Router"
  http://serqet345qt265xp.onion/

1. "Op-ed: Why the entire premise of Tor-enabled routers is ridiculous"
  http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/04/18/op-ed-why-the-entire-premise-of-tor-enabled-routers-is-ridiculous/

2. "[tor-relays] Anonbox Project - Mike Perry"
  https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-relays/2014-October/005541.html

3. "[tor-relays] Anonbox Project - Roger Dingledine"
  https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-relays/2014-October/005544.html

4. "[tor-talk] Cloak Tor Router (thread)"
  https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2014-November/035436.html

5. "Onion services" came in behind "Tor sites" because sites felt too
web browser focused. we're trying to avoid the legacy "hidden
services" nomenclature.

6. i have a long history of extreme dislike for encrypted email, key
servers, web of trust, and other moral hazards. however, if you
encrypt to my key you can send private mail, if desired. note that
some encrypted email clients will fail insecure if the intended
recipient doesn't match a keyring identifier!
https://peertech.org/keys/0x65A847E7C2B9380C-pub.txt