Contributor privacy and opsec - Revision history

Pazza at 16:28, 25 August 2024

2024-08-25T16:28:35Z

W000000t: /* Steps for accounts setup */

2023-02-03T14:51:52Z

Steps for accounts setup

W000000t: /* Known issues and warnings */

2023-02-03T14:48:01Z

Known issues and warnings

W000000t: /* Steps for base setup */

2023-02-03T14:46:04Z

Steps for base setup

W000000t: /* Steps for base setup */

2023-02-03T14:38:18Z

Steps for base setup

W000000t at 14:37, 3 February 2023

2023-02-03T14:37:22Z

W000000t at 14:29, 3 February 2023

2023-02-03T14:29:30Z

W000000t: /* Tips */

2023-01-14T16:53:19Z

Tips

W000000t at 16:50, 14 January 2023

2023-01-14T16:50:23Z

W000000t: /* Tips */

2023-01-14T16:48:46Z

Tips

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:28, 25 August 2024
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	An account on matrix is also advised to access Bisq's space, you will register from https://bisq.chat and use the same email to associate to that account, registering at https://bisq.community is needed to interact with the forum.		An account on matrix is also advised to access Bisq's space, you will register from https://bisq.chat and use the same email to associate to that account, registering at https://bisq.community is needed to interact with the forum.
	An interesting customization can be to obtain an AI generated face to associate with your account, there are many services that let you get such a picture for free.		An interesting customization can be to obtain an AI generated face to associate with your account, there are many services that let you get such a picture for free.
		+
		+	= Burning Men considerations =
		+
		+	If a Bisq contributor wants to become act as one of the [[Burning Ben]] they will have additional privacy and opsec considerations.
		+
		+	* BSQ is inherently less private than bitcoin. BSQ can easily be traced back to a compensation request, DAO vote.
		+	* Bitcoin accumulated from performing the role of a burning man also links it to a specific burning man address.
		+
		+	Both of the above points should be considered by contributors concerned about privacy and opsec.

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 As a Bisq contributor, you will need at minimum a GitHub account, to be able to publish Compensation Requests. A GitHub account requires an email address, so you will need that one as well.
 Protonmail is one email provider that will let you register -as of now- without any KYC elements (no other email addresses nor phone numbers needed); riseup.net also offers no-kyc email, but you need an invite by another user; in case you know of similar services, please notify us and we will gladly add them in this guide.
-An account on matrix is also advised to access Bisq's space, you will register from https://bisq.chat and use the same email to associate to that account, you might want to also register at https://bisq.community to interact with the forum.
+An account on matrix is also advised to access Bisq's space, you will register from https://bisq.chat and use the same email to associate to that account,  registering at https://bisq.community is needed to interact with the forum.
 An interesting customization can be to obtain an AI generated face to associate with your account, there are many services that let you get such a picture for free.

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 = Known issues and warnings =
-* real anonymity does not exist, even if you could "plug" into the internet like rebels plugged into the Matrix, someone could still be able to trace the source of your "signal"; proper personal protection can be achieved based on one's dedication and skills, and always relative to one's thread model (a Bisq contributor shouldn't get the same attention that a whistleblower does, for example)
+* real anonymity does not exist, even if you could "plug" into the internet like rebels plugged into the Matrix, someone could still be able to trace the source of your "signal"; proper personal protection can be achieved based on one's dedication and skills, and always relative to one's threat model (a Bisq contributor shouldn't get the same attention that a whistleblower does, for example)
 * it only takes one mistake, where you let a hint to your real identity slip through your pseudonym, and your whole nym is compromised, plus all of their past activity will be linked to you
 * assume any online service will keep all the information about you that you allow it to obtain (browser/PC information via javascript, OS preferred language, obviously your IP, cookies...) and store them for the long term even after you think you deleted them
 * assume that anything you do, say, or write, will be used against you, even if it was innocent and apparently inconsequential at the time
-* in the above configuration, Tor Browser loses most of its specific privacy strengths, yet it's still very useful to have a portable, containerized browser that will only work through Tor, and builds its own Tor connection, distinct from any other Tor daemon you might have on your system (versus, for example, using several chromium instances tied to the same Tor proxy, which will all use the same entry and exit node, and which will be at risk of going on clearnet if for any reason the plugin you use to proxy through Tor doesn't do its job)
+* in the above configuration, Tor Browser loses most of its specific privacy strengths, yet it's still very useful to have a portable, containerized browser that will only work through Tor, and builds its own Tor connection, distinct from any other Tor daemon you maybe have on your system (versus, for example, using several chromium instances tied to the same Tor proxy, which will all use the same entry and exit node, and which will be at risk of going on clearnet if for any reason the plugin you use to proxy through Tor doesn't do its job)
 * this guide is only aimed at online protection, offering nothing in the compartment of offline security: anyone physically accessing your PC will be able to tell that you are, in fact, ''contributor'', plus any other identity you might have used online, unless you also hardened your system with additional layers that will not be covered in this guide, at least for now (see Tails, Qubes, Whonix, or any other renowned tool for PC protection)

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 * go to geolocation.com in Tor Browser, verify the IP and location is different from your real ones (it will necessarily be, this is just to show you where you appear to be coming from, when using Tor) and from the one reported from any other Tor Browser you maybe already have on the system
 * make sure the shield icon in top right is empty (clicking on it says "standard"); this will enable scripts, which are not "safe" for anonymity, but you want a bit of convenience to be able to use Matrix and other websites that require javascript, as long as all activity in this browser stays within your Bisq nym
-* go to settings > privacy, and under "history" disable "always use private browsing", this will restart Tor Browser; after restart, return to same settings, disabled cookie deletion after Tor Browser closes (so you can log back in to websites automatically), enable all logins&passwords saving, in under history enable what suits you (enable both "remember" for maximum convenience), then under Permissions, block requests to access camera and location (maybe you need to enable mic for calls).
+* go to settings > privacy, and under "history" disable "always use private browsing", this will restart Tor Browser; after restart, return to same settings, disable cookie deletion after Tor Browser closes (so you can log back in to websites automatically), enable all logins&passwords saving, and under history enable what suits you (enable both "remember" for maximum convenience), then under Permissions, block requests to access camera and location. Even if you don't disable mic access, the microphone will still be unavailable during web calls, because of a compile-time setting of Tor Browser.
 == Tips ==
 * sometimes Tor will become slow, really, unbearably torturing slow; stay strong, don't go clearnet; if all else fails, blame Tor with your correspondents, it will immediately excuse you for your unresponsiveness, and at the same time show you are very privacy-oriented and make you look really cool
 * the usual tip to leave the tor browser window at default size is not really needed here, as we are okay with "fingerprinting" the nym

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 * close Tor Browser and restart it (right after this, it's a good time to enable the automatic connection, which means Tor Browser will build a Tor circuit right after you start it)
 * go to geolocation.com in Tor Browser, verify the IP and location is different from your real ones (it will necessarily be, this is just to show you where you appear to be coming from, when using Tor) and from the one reported from any other Tor Browser you maybe already have on the system
-* make sure the shield icon in top right is empty (clicking on it says "standard"); this will enable scripts, which are not "safe" for anonymity, but you want a bit of convenience to be able to use Matrix and other websites that require javascript, as long as all activity in this browser stays withing your Bisq nym
+* make sure the shield icon in top right is empty (clicking on it says "standard"); this will enable scripts, which are not "safe" for anonymity, but you want a bit of convenience to be able to use Matrix and other websites that require javascript, as long as all activity in this browser stays within your Bisq nym
 * go to settings > privacy, and under "history" disable "always use private browsing", this will restart Tor Browser; after restart, return to same settings, disabled cookie deletion after Tor Browser closes (so you can log back in to websites automatically), enable all logins&passwords saving, in under history enable what suits you (enable both "remember" for maximum convenience), then under Permissions, block requests to access camera and location (maybe you need to enable mic for calls).

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 = Steps for base setup =
 * download Tor Browser for your OS
 * have Tor Browser "installed" (actually it is just uncompressed in a folder with no ties to registry or system config) in a path that's unique to your Bisq nym
+* run Tor Browser (ignore the error about restarting Tor if there is another Tor Browser open, as they will try to bind the same ports, returning an error, and close the popup) and open <code>about:config</code> in the URL bar, say that you really want to access the options, then search for <code>_port</code>
-== If you have another Tor Browser already installed ==
+* you want to edit <code>network.proxy.socks_port</code> and <code>extensions.torlauncher.control_port</code>, the standard values here are respectively 9150 and 9151 (standalone tor daemon is 9050 and 9051), so you can change them to 9250 and 9251, or increase them to 9350 and 9351 if you want several Tor Browser instances running at the same time (this will run a dedicated Tor circuit builder for your Bisq activity)
 * still in about:config, search for "privacy.resistFingerprinting.letterboxing" and set it to false (allows maximizing pages to fill the whole screen)
 * close Tor Browser and restart it (right after this, it's a good time to enable the automatic connection, which means Tor Browser will build a Tor circuit right after you start it)
-* start the other Tor Browser in your system
+* go to geolocation.com in Tor Browser, verify the IP and location is different from your real ones (it will necessarily be, this is just to show you where you appear to be coming from, when using Tor) and from the one reported from any other Tor Browser you maybe already have on the system
 * make sure the shield icon in top right is empty (clicking on it says "standard"); this will enable scripts, which are not "safe" for anonymity, but you want a bit of convenience to be able to use Matrix and other websites that require javascript, as long as all activity in this browser stays withing your Bisq nym
 * go to settings > privacy, and under "history" disable "always use private browsing", this will restart Tor Browser; after restart, return to same settings, disabled cookie deletion after Tor Browser closes (so you can log back in to websites automatically), enable all logins&passwords saving, in under history enable what suits you (enable both "remember" for maximum convenience), then under Permissions, block requests to access camera and location (maybe you need to enable mic for calls).

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The aim of this guide is containerization, which means that a ''contributor'' will appear to an ''adversary'' (someone trying to understand who you really are, to do bad things to you) as a specific individual, traceable online as ''contributor'', but hopefully (if you do things well enough) not linkable to their real identity, nor to other possible nyms ''contributor'' uses while participating in other projects.
 In other words, ''adversary'' will be able to tell if something on the internet has been said by ''contributor'', but it should not make them any wiser about who ''contributor'' really is, where they live, or which other works they have done for other initiatives.
-We will be making Tor Browser work as a much more convenient, much less privacy hardened browser, that will still force you to connect through Tor to do whatever you need; an adversary will be able to fingerprint you as a nym, but they won't find details to locate your real identity if you are careful; the previous statement will not be liked by enthusiasts of online privacy, but a mild yet consistent plan, is still much better than a very strong plan that is not adhered to 100% of the time because it is very unconvenient.
+We will be making Tor Browser work as a much more convenient, much less privacy hardened browser, that will still force you to connect through Tor to do whatever you need; in other words, we will use Tor Browser in a way that it is NOT intended to be used. An adversary will be able to fingerprint you as a nym, but they won't find details to locate your real identity if you are careful; the previous statement will not be liked by enthusiasts of online privacy, but a mild yet consistent plan, is still much better than a very strong plan that is not adhered to 100% of the time because it is very unconvenient.
 Let's clear up some definitions: