[tor-project] OONI Monthly Report: December 2020

Wed Jan 6 17:44:55 UTC 2021

Hello,

Happy New Year! Hope 2021 brings more good health and joy to all.

Throughout December 2020, the OONI team worked on the following sprints:

* Sprint 27 - Hexacorallia (December 1 - 6, 2020)
* Sprint 28 - Corallimorpharia (December 7 - 19, 2020)
* Sprint 29 - Dogfish shark (December 20 - 31, 2020)

Our work can be tracked through the various OONI GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/ooni

Highlights are shared in this report below.

## Year in Review: OONI in 2020

Every year we summarize what the OONI team did through our annual “Year
in Review” posts.

At the end of December 2020, we published “Year in Review: OONI in
2020”, which shares OONI highlights from 2020, as well as upcoming OONI
projects for 2021. In this post, we also highlight accomplishments from
the OONI community in 2020.

This post is available here: https://ooni.org/post/ooni-in-2020/

## OONI Probe Mobile

### Released OONI Probe Mobile 2.8.0

We released OONI Probe Mobile 2.8.0 for:

* Android: https://github.com/ooni/probe-android/releases/tag/v2.8.0
* iOS: https://github.com/ooni/probe-ios/releases/tag/v2.8.0

On Android, OONI Probe tests are run as Android services, where a
notification of test progress is displayed. On both Android and iOS, the
latest release enables users to free up space by deleting old
measurement files in the app settings, and the OONI Probe measurement
engine has been updated to v0.21.0.

### Other OONI Probe Mobile improvements

Throughout December 2020, we also worked on the following:

* Ensured we removed unused probe-engine settings:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1307
* Ensured that tapping on notifications doesn't open OONI Run or the
app: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1307
* Fixed the unit tests on iOS
* Changed the modal options for requesting push notification permission:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1306
* Added support for interrupting OONI Probe tests when the user’s
connectivity changes: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1296
* Carried out some research on potentially disabling battery
optimization: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1301
* Made some progress on implementing the check-in API:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1299

## OONI Probe Desktop

Throughout December 2020, we worked on the following:

* Integrated the “Choose websites” function into the OONI Probe CLI (so
that it can be supported on OONI Probe Desktop):
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1283
* Implemented an MVP for automated OONI Probe testing on Windows:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1053
* Explored whether it’s possible to shed privileges or run with reduced
privileges on Windows during automated testing:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1300
* Added support for max_runtime to OONI Probe desktop:
https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1280
* Started implementing a new dashboard to align with the look and feel
of OONI Probe Mobile: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1274

### Updating OONI Probe macOS homebrew package

We made considerable progress on updating the OONI Probe macOS homebrew
package with the OONI Probe Command Line Interface (CLI), as documented
through this ticket: https://github.com/ooni/probe/issues/1289

## OONI Probe Engine

In early December 2020, we completed a series of routine OONI Probe
engine releases (in support of the OONI Probe Mobile 2.8.0 release), as
documented through this ticket:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine/issues/1043 

## Building Debian package for OONI Probe

We further improved upon the new Debian package for OONI Probe:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/162

We now have an OONI Probe Debian package that can be installed and run
in the background: https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/452 

## Expanding OONI Probe measurement methodologies

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve upon and expand our
measurement methodologies, we:

* Reviewed the new HTTP/3 experiment (contributed by a community
members) for quality assurance, as documented through this ticket:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine/issues/1057 (this is an ongoing task)
* Carried out research and encrypted DNS experiments:
https://github.com/ooni/probe-engine/issues/900

## Wrote paper on measuring DoT/DoH blocking using OONI Probe

During the last weeks of December 2020, OONI’s Simone wrote an academic
paper on measuring DoT/DoH blocking through the use of OONI Probe
experiments.

This paper describes DNScheck (an active network experiment for the
detection of DoT/DoH blocking), which we implemented into OONI Probe. We
compiled a list of popular DoT/DoH services and ran DNSCheck
measurements with the help of volunteer OONI Probe users. Our paper
presents preliminary measurement findings from Kazakhstan (AS48716),
Iran (AS197207), and China (AS45090).

We have submitted this paper to the DNS Privacy Workshop 2021:
https://www.ndss-symposium.org/ndss2021/cfp-dns-privacy-workshop/

## OONI Explorer

In December 2020, we worked on refactoring the OONI Explorer search page
to run only on the client side: https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/413

We have built a measurement aggregation toolkit, a generic web-based
tool that can help with creating useful visualizations with aggregated
measurement data from the API. It is currently deployed in the
experimental section of OONI Explorer:
https://explorer.ooni.org/experimental/mat

Throughout December 2020, we made a series of improvements to our
measurement aggregation toolkit, as documented here:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/528

Progress on future work to improve it is documented here:
https://github.com/ooni/explorer/issues/536

## OONI backend

Throughout December 2020, we worked on the following backend activities:

* Switched orchestrate traffic to test-list/urls to API:
https://github.com/ooni/backend/issues/478
* Investigated MIA route flapping
* Investigated AMS connectivity issues
* Monitored the dashboard reactive test-list
* Deployed persistent journald
* Fixed the measurement_forwarder

## Published new OONI Partners page

We published a new page on the OONI website which features all of our
partners, highlights their work, links to their websites, and shares
some of the research reports and projects that we have collaborated on.

The new OONI Partners page is available here: https://ooni.org/partners

## Creating a new Donate page for the OONI website

We steadily made progress on creating a new Donate page for the OONI
website.

This involved:

* Relevant frontend development: https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/pull/723
* Writing the copy for the new page:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/713

We also:

* Wrote copy for OONI’s new Open Collective account:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/704
* Edited the copy on OONI’s GitHub Sponsors page:
https://github.com/ooni/ooni.org/issues/722 

## Collaboration with Netalitica on test lists

We continued to collaborate with Netalitica researchers, who did
excellent work updating more Citizen Lab test lists.

Throughout December 2020, we reviewed (and shared feedback on)
Netalitica updates to the following test lists:

* Zimbabwe: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/701
* Algeria: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/702
* Colombia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/707
* Ethiopia: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/708
* Lebanon: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/709

We also updated the following test lists (in collaboration with
community members):

* Global & Nigerian: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/694
* Global: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/696 and
https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/700
* Cuban: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/698
* Nigerian: https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists/pull/699

## Community use of OONI data

### Amnesty Malaysia: Unsilenced

Amnesty Malaysia launched a campaign, called Unsilenced, which aims to
fight censorship and defend freedom of expression in Malaysia.

This campaign is available here: https://unsilenced.amnesty.my/

Among the resources listed on the Unsilenced site are the OONI website
and OONI measurements collected from Malaysia (linking to the Malaysian
page on OONI Explorer).

## Community activities

### Internet Shutdown Measurement Training Group Presentations

Between 12th October 2020 to 19th November 2020, we helped lead
Internews’ 6-week Internet Shutdown Measurement Training for human
rights defenders in Sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout this training
program, participants were asked to work in groups to develop relevant
research and advocacy projects, which we supported through mentorship.

On 1st December 2020, the training participants presented their research
and advocacy projects. Leading up to these presentations, we supported
training participants by reviewing their presentations and sharing feedback.

### Workshop: Building capacity for internet shutdown advocacy

On 15th December 2020, OONI’s Maria attended Internews’ workshop,
“Building capacity for internet shutdown advocacy: Community needs
assessment”, where she facilitated the discussion on community needs
around censorship measurement data.

Information about the workshop is available here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-capacity-for-internet-shutdown-advocacy-workshop-report-launch-tickets-130455334417

## Userbase

In December 2020, 3,834,624 OONI Probe measurements were collected from
4,443 networks in 191 countries around the world.

This information can also be found through our measurement stats on OONI
Explorer (see chart on “monthly coverage worldwide”):
https://explorer.ooni.org/

~ OONI team.

-- 
Maria Xynou
Research & Partnerships Director
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.org/
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