Hello everyone,
I'm Apratim (irc: _ranchak_), and I'm from Haldia Institute of Technology, India, studying Computer Science Engineering. I'll be working this summer on the GSoC project: "Alexa Top Sites Captcha and Tor Block Monitoring" with my mentors Barkin, Pili, Gerog and Roger guiding me through the irc. I'm very excited to be a part of Tor and am interested in working on this project!
Briefing about the project: As of now "The Captcha Monitoring" project tracks how often CDN (for ex. Cloudflare, Akamai, Amazon Cloudfront, etc.) fronted webpages return CAPTCHAs to Tor clients. My project will be focussed on tracking the The Alexa Top 500 Websites, to give a detailed perspective of websites mentioned in the Topsites, blocking or returning Captchas to Tor clients. The project aims to do so by fetching webpages over a period of time from both Tor clients/browsers and the non-tor browsers thereby comparing the results. The results will be then collected and provide answers to the different metrics, and also form an understanding of how websites are blocking Tor and affect Internet freedom. Also one could visit: https://gitlab.torproject.org/woswos/CAPTCHA-Monitor/-/wikis/GSoC-2021 for detailed info.
As planned and discussed by my mentor, I'll be creating more issues, which could be seen from the sidebar along the wiki page, to record my progress. As of now one could reach out with suggestions and advises in the irc (#tor-dev) as well as here: tpo/community/support/#40013. I also plan to update my wiki page frequently and have all the information required.
Hope to have a great learning ahead and enjoy this summer!
Regards, Apratim
https://gitlab.torproject.org/woswos/CAPTCHA-Monitor/-/wikis/GSoC-2021 tpo/community/support/#40013
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/projects/DontBlockMe https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/doc/ListOfServicesBlocking...
The importance due to negative utility and freedom impact this big blocking problem has been having on Tor users. The DBM project in the original wiki'd links could/should have been first picked up and added adjunct to with the publicly sphere engaged and reporting in the OONI style (itself started after the decade of the DBM project started its outline). And the problem grew larger.
Cloudflare (TLS stripping spies), reCaptcha, etc... have only spread worse over time now blocking even more percent of sites, by their default config and or by negative biased wording in the blocking softwares config docs about tor users that their customers then read and make bad misconcept about tor and its users thus leading to more blocking being configured, meanwhile tor users have grown in mass numbers, thus more negative impact total to bigger percent of people using internet especially via tor and VPN.
At least some people formally looks at problem now, even if only first GSOC, to proof and expose it to sunshine more, towards ending it. Most of the project aspects for it are in searchable lists history around the above links, including automating the scans, ranking, reporting, doing public engagement against the blocks using the provided list of potential solutions to get the problem solved, etc.
It is really very bad when Tor users are censored forbidden prevented from right of just clicking and only *reading* information on the internet, let alone Tor users needs to publish their own there, to reply interact utilize with others in the fora and platforms and services, to use buy pay support patronize and get delivery, to debate social meet discover help learn politic etc, the right to *write* to the internet... under such discriminatory predjudiced anti human right of participation, under these kneejerk least-co$t-and-thought-given blocking regimes and mentalities.
The use of tor, VPN's, new overlay and proxy networks, to browse/use the internet is only growing worldwide, for good ways and defensive protective sensible reasons... but users still getting more "you are denied to use this service via tor/VPN, your account has been locked and deleted, your datas and balance has been confiscated, you are banned for life, you must submit selfies phones IDs and all life data infos, etc" ... all just for using the tor/VPN/proxy.
Such source based blocking methods even being applied to users of IRC, and now to the cryptocurrency networks.
End these blocking regimes being deployed against freedoms of millions of worlds users... "DontBlockMe"... indeed!
https://gitlab.torproject.org/woswos/CAPTCHA-Monitor/-/wikis/GSoC-2021 tpo/community/support/#40013
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/projects/DontBlockMe https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/doc/ListOfServicesBlocking...
Beyond talk (and dev) there was tor-access, though it seemed more on tokenizing/tracking out permissive rights granting structures only upon tor/vpn users, rather than the services side investing into some DBM suggested methods whereby both clearnet and tor/vpn users would have and enjoy same class of equal rights and usage models, or on developing/promulgating a rights based concept to the world.
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Apratim Ranjan Chakrabarty -
grarpamp