[tor-talk] Hidden vs Clearnet Services

[k e bera]

Both hidden and clearnet services can gather information to build profiles of their users over time, and try to correlate it with information from other services.  What is stopping the operators from exploiting that information contrary to interests of the users?

In the clearnet case, operators are accountable for their public promises and by established norms and legalities of internet behaviour.  Their reputation in other areas could be damaged by a scandal in one service.

In the hidden case, there is no accountability at all, which leads to quite a temptation.  Of course selling or using the information risks revealing where it came from, but because users wanted to be anonymous they may not have the means or the will to go after the operators.  This is the dynamic with, for example, underground railroads. (Not saying hidden services are necessarily illegal.)  If Tor users are careful, there is not much information the operator would be able to gather and exploit though.