[tor-bugs] #6676 [Tor Relay]: Nuke ‘MyFamily’

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#6676: Nuke ‘MyFamily’
-----------------------+----------------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  rransom    |          Owner:                    
     Type:  task       |         Status:  new               
 Priority:  normal     |      Milestone:  Tor: 0.2.4.x-final
Component:  Tor Relay  |        Version:                    
 Keywords:             |         Parent:                    
   Points:             |   Actualpoints:                    
-----------------------+----------------------------------------------------
 For reasons discussed in #5565, the ‘MyFamily’ option should go away:

  * It is probably harmful for clients to refuse to use two relays operated
 by the same honest entity, and malicious relay operators will not use
 MyFamily honestly.
  * Honest relay operators have a hard time setting MyFamily correctly on
 all of their relays.
  * Relay family information bloats up microdescriptors, likely for no
 benefit.
  * Groups of relays operated by the same entity can be recognized
 tolerably well (e.g. for metrics purposes) using their ContactInfo string
 instead (modulo the possible need for fuzzy matching of some sort).

 This change requires (assuming I didn't forget anything):

  * a proposal, spec change, and consensus method to remove relay family
 information from microdescriptors;
  * a corresponding code change for Tor dirauths;
  * a code change to clients to make them ignore relay family information
 (if they receive it, e.g. by turning off UseMicrodescriptors) by default,
 and warn if the user tries to re-enable use of relay family information
 without disabling UseMicrodescriptors.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/6676>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online