Every now and then I challenge myself to do something counterintuitive with my technology. Something that creates friction in my workflow where I evaluate if I need to make a change or update what I currently rely on with my tech setup. I’m weird like that. But hey, if I am going to make a bold recommendation to improve your online privacy and security, I should go first.
One of those challenges I made in the past was, “Can I end my reliance on my iPhone SE (2020) and go a month only using a Nokia 3310 (dumb)phone?” I lasted 24 hours before popping the SIM card out of the Nokia and back into my iPhone. Too many helpful features in my smartphone that have become ubquitous in my everyday life.
Another challenge was, “Can I decrease my dependence on Apple technology by switching from an iPhone SE 2020 running iOS to using a Google Pixel 4A running GrapheneOS?” Not only have I enjoyed full immersion in Graphene OS’ privacy-focused operating system, I recently upgraded my phone from a Pixel 4A to a Pixel 6… ain’t lookin’ back.
Towards the end of March, the thought had materialized in my mind, “What if I only used the TOR Browser on the TOR network for my personal web browsing?” I felt myself cringe, because I knew that would be tough. So naturally I had to accept my self-imposed challenger. Before we get too deep into the weeds, TOR stands for “The Onion Router.”
On April 1 I popped in a USB jumpdrive containing TailsOS into my personal laptop and fired it up. No foolin’ around here. TailsOS is a privacy-focused, anonymous operating system that can be run on most computers (including yours at home I’m wagering) from a simple USB jumpdrive. In a previous post, I shared how I created a persistent volume on my TailsOS instance which remembered my home wireless network connection settings and other stored files. So it doesn’t take that long for me to go from Power On to Let’s Ride.
TOR Browser and Network Friction
I’m a few days into this challenge, and have encountered the usual negative setbacks wth using a heavily-secured web browser that connects to the TOR network:
The TOR Browser window cannot be resized. It must stay in the original window dimensions and not resized to be bigger or full screen. It limits my viewing all webpage information in one screen, so there’s lot of scrolling un pand down, and sideways too in some cases! Resizing my window would result in my browsing activity standing out among other users of TOR browsers (the kids like to call it “fingerprinting.” Some websites extract your browser type, your IP number, the add-ons/extensions you have installed, and some extract information about your web browser’s window size to identify you in the crowd. Crazy, huh?)
I encounter slower speeds than my usual web browser with a geographically-close Virtual Private Network location since the TOR Network goes through three random checkpoints around the world. For example, my home residence in the US sends a request to view greymantechnology.substack.com on the TOR Browser. It first goes to a randomized TOR network node in London, then veers to a randomized TOR network node in Lesotho, then ricochets to a randomized third network node in Berlin before getting me my webpage content. Slower speeds in most cases, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. Just not bullet-train fast like I’m used to. Thanks to those slow speeds, I have chosen not to download large files via the TOR network. Not worth my patience during this month’s challenge.
I have encountered a LOT of CAPTCHA clicky-box-checks to prove I am a human. A discouraging amount. Some websites don’t even let me access the page at all, since the TOR browser randomly exits me from a location somewhere in the world to access that website, and they really want to know where I am located…and who I am.
I don’t get to sign into many of my online accounts. The TOR Browser’s main mission is to provide security and anonymity for its user. Even though I’m popping out in Berlin when acccessing a Clearnet website, a place that can be found through a search engine, I don’t want that information being tied to one of my online accounts. It sounds like a tinfoil hat paranoid mindset, but I have my Pixel 6 running the private Bromite browser if I need to most access online accounts. So no accessing my typical online accounts…but then there’s .onion websites. Hold that thought.
TOR Browser and Network Advantages
Using the TOR does have some cool advantages built-in:
The outstanding uBlock Origin adblocker extension is installed and active by default. No pop-ups, no annoying ads as per my usual web browsing. Me likey.
Since my “exit node” is nowhere near my home residence, I don’t have to use VPN software to disguise where my IP location is to various websites I visit.
In addition to .com, .net, and .org websites, there are special webpages that the TOR Browser is able to visit that normal web browsers like Google Chrome cannot. Those secure websites have a .onion at the end of their URL instead of a .com for example. Protonmail has a .onion webpage for its users so I can securely access my personal email on the TOR network and not jeopardize my tinfoil hat mission for anonymity. So does BBC News. So does Twitter, but I don’t have much trust with Twitter in general.
With the TailsOS I can pop in another USB drive on my laptop to import bookmarks from my regular web browser to visit the sites on the TOR Browser. (You ARE backing up your web browser’s bookmarks, aren’t you?)
A few days have passed, and I’m not seeing many dealbreakers with my challenge of disciplined web browsing on the TOR network with the TOR browser. Perhaps it should be described as mindful web browsing? When I encounter a limitation, or no access whatsoever, I’m asking myself the question, “How important is this webpage that I’m visiting?” or, “Do I need to access this website via Bromite on my GrapheneOS phone?” In more and more cases, I’m deciding that the webpage is not necessary for me to view on the TOR Browser, and I’ll let my mind move to another topic to research, or I’ll access another bookmark and move on with life. But I’m realizing that I can view more and more pages on the TOR Browser, and that is encouraging moving forward.