[tor-teachers] Open, Onion and Off-the-Record == O3? Ozone?

[Alison Macrina]

Nathan of Guardian:
> 
> 
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2015, at 10:41 AM, J.M. Porup wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 04, 2015 at 10:23:38AM -0500, Nathan of Guardian wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 4, 2015, at 10:02 AM, J.M. Porup wrote:
>>>>>>> Perhaps, calling it Ozone, is too clever, but just using the phrase
>>>>>>> "Open, Onion and Off-the-Record" is an easy meme that could stick?
>>>>
>>>> Having spent some (admittedly disagreeable) time in marketing, I would 
>>>> encourage thinking less about clever/punny names and instead names that 
>>>> "say what it is."
>>>>
>>>> I have found Don Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things" to be useful
>>>> in this regard.
>>>>
>>>> The name should answer the question "What is it?" in a way that
>>>> non-technical end users immediately understand...and in a way that they
>>>> can easily communicate to others.
>>>>
>>>> I do not like to give criticism without offering an alternative, but I
>>>> fear nothing comes to mind right now.
>>>
>>> Smart, considerate criticism is always welcome!
>>>
>>> Is "Open, Onion Routed and Off-the-Record" not saying what it is in
>>> mostly plain english? I am happy with that longer version of the
>>> description of "What is it?" or "Why do we recommend it?".
>>
>> One of the rules of thumb in advertising is to tout "benefits, not
>> features."
>>
>> For instance, many people who could benefit from using Tor don't need 
>> to know how onion routing works under the hood (or even the phrase
>> "onion routing".)
>>
>> Similarly, talking up "Open" as a feature may not resonate with a
>> non-technical audience that likely knows little about open source
>> software.
>>
>> Growing technical awareness will change your comms strategy as time
>> passes, but I think the urgency of the message requires greater
>> simplification for non-technical end users.
>>
>> Does that help?
> 
> Yes, good points. You are correct that using these kinds of terms only
> appeals to people who understand the larger importance of them, as
> opposed to how they directly impact them.
> 
> "Choice" is a better word then "Open", in that regard, and "No Trace" is
> better than "Onion Routed". Thus, a phrase like "Your choose the
> service, all conversations are completely private, and there is no trace
> left behind", is much more plain spoken. 
> 
> I have also discovered "Zero Knowledge" again as an idea, and this
> effort: http://zeroknowledgeprivacy.org/
> 
> "‘Zero-Knowledge’ privacy means the server is never capable of viewing
> plaintext data; therefore, the data may never be compromised through
> mismanagement, prying eyes, or external bodies looking to gain access."
> 
> Perhaps calling all of these things "Zero Knowledge Messengers" is an
> easier starting point, and then explaining all the ways they achieve
> that could be more useful.
> 
> 
> I do think that Tor overall wants to raise awareness about what a "Dot
> Onion" site is, means and does. "This chat service provides a dot onion
> site" should hopefully mean something in the way that milk is labelled
> "this milk contains no bovine growth hormone", or that a car contains
> "anti-lock brakes" is something people generally get, now.


I love this as a concept and I'm going to start brainstorming more
marketable naming schemes, per Jens' suggestions. I do really like Zero
Knowledge. Especially if we can get to a point where it's not just about
what the server knows about you, but also about what it takes to get the
service up and running. :)

Alison