Snowflake proxy and TOR to bypass Internet censorship

[Anonymous]

If your Internet access is not censored, please consider installing
Snowflake to help users on censored networks.

Freedom of information is related to freedom of expression,
which can apply to any medium, be it oral, writing, print,
electronic, or through art forms. This means that the protection
of freedom of speech as a right includes not only the content,
but also the means of expression.

Snowflake allows you to share access to free and open
communication on the Internet with censored Internet users
around the world. Enabling this extension turns your browser
into a proxy that connects Tor users in censored regions to
the Tor network.

The Snowflake system consists of three components: Volunteers who
run Snowflake proxies, Tor users who want to connect to the Internet,
and a broker that delivers Snowflake proxies to users.

You don't need to worry about the websites that users access through
your proxy. Their visible IP address will be the one of the Tor exit
node and not yours.

Install in Firefox
<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/torproject-snowflake/>

Install in Chrome
<https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/snowflake/mafpmfcccpbjnhfhjnl
lmmalhifmlcie>

For more detailed information on how Snowflake works, see the
documentation wiki
<https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-
transports/snowflake/-/wikis/home>

[Grant Taylor]

On 12/13/23 15:12, Anonymous wrote:
> If your Internet access is not censored, please consider installing
> Snowflake to help users on censored networks.

Thank you for bringing Snowflake to my attention.

However, after doing some reading about it, I have concerns.

> Enabling this extension turns your browser into a proxy that connects
> Tor users in censored regions to the Tor network.

On the surface, yes, that's what Snowflake does.

But I'm not sure that's all that Snowflake does.

> You don't need to worry about the websites that users access through
> your proxy. Their visible IP address will be the one of the Tor exit
> node and not yours.

I'm not convinced of that.

My understanding after reading the URL that you shared, and multiple
linked therefrom is that Snowflake is effectively a component of a
system that presents itself as a SOCKS server to Tor clients.

My concern is that it really is /just/ a component of a distributed
SOCKS server and that the only Tor component is the fact that Tor is the
intended use therefor.

I did not find anything that refutes that other SOCKS clients ability to
use Snowflake. So if it's up to the Snowflake client to decide what is
connected to, I don't see anything that prevents using Snowflake to
connect to things other than remote Tor nodes.

My concern is that Snowflake is much more of a generic proxy system that
has thin veil of being for Tor use and that it's a matter of time before
it's used for more than just Tor.

I don't mind helping people get to Tor exit nodes. But I want to *NOT*
be an exit node for $REASONS.

Ultimately I don't currently feel like I can safely use Snowflake
without becoming an exit node of sorts.



--
Grant. . . .