[tor-bugs] #9669 [Tor]: Add extrainfo lines for Hidden Service usage stats?

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#9669: Add extrainfo lines for Hidden Service usage stats?
------------------------+---------------------
 Reporter:  asn         |          Owner:
     Type:  task        |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal      |      Milestone:
Component:  Tor         |        Version:
 Keywords:  tor tor-hs  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:              |         Points:
------------------------+---------------------
 I wonder if it would be a good idea to have usage statistics of the Hidden
 Services network.

 This could happen in two ways:
 a) Tor relays could send a line in their extrainfo descriptor saying how
 many bytes of rendezvous connections they have pushed. This would give us
 an idea of the bandwidth usage of Hidden Services.
 b) HSDirs and Introduction Points could send statistics about how many HS
 descriptors they have sent, or how many intro requests they have
 performed.

 I think a) is easy to implement and *probably* privacy-preserving too
 (since RPs are picked randomly by the client out of the set of all Tor
 relays). Would also give us an idea on how much HSes are used. However, we
 should think scenarios where revealing usage stats of an RP might
 compromise the anonymity of the HS or its clients.

 The b) idea is probably too leaky to be worth it. Since IPs and HSDirs
 correspond to specific Hidden Services and leaking info about them might
 hurt the privacy of the HS.

 I'm still not sure if this is worth it, but it would be good to consider.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/9669>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online