[tor-bugs] #21951 [Applications/Tor Launcher]: Helping censored users boostrap to Tor: Tor launcher improvements and automation (was: Tor Launcher improvements and automation)

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21951: Helping censored users boostrap to Tor: Tor launcher improvements and
automation
---------------------------------------+--------------------------
 Reporter:  linda                      |          Owner:  linda
     Type:  project                    |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                     |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Launcher  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                     |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-team                    |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                             |         Points:
 Reviewer:                             |        Sponsor:  Sponsor4
---------------------------------------+--------------------------
Description changed by linda:

Old description:

> To make it easier for users to connect to Tor, we're going to make some
> changes to Tor Launcher. Specifically:
>
> 1. design changes: we're going to make interface-only changes that will
> help the users.
> 1. naive automation: we're going to automate the connection process, by
> some sort of behavior. We haven't decided on what that behavior is yet,
> but there are multiple ways to do this. One way would be to try a bunch
> of relays/bridges in a specific order, and stop when one is reachable.
> Another way would be to try all the relays/bridges at the same time, and
> return one that works to the user.
> 1. smart automation: this is a "make it work" button that people can
> relatively safely click, and it will work for people in most environments
> with minimized risk. We haven't decided on what that behavior is yet
> either, but one way to do this is to meek-front the connection, work with
> bridgeDB and/or some way to identify where the user is from, and give
> them a relay/bridge that works the first time.
>
> This ticket is more here so that we remember to do this. I (Linda) don't
> know when things are happening, or when specific proposals come in to
> fund each phase of this project.

New description:

 = Background =

 [https://petsymposium.org/2017/papers/issue3/paper2-2017-3-source.pdf
 Research] has shown that many censored users are not able to connect to
 Tor if Tor is censored in their country. The ones that are able to succeed
 usually do after multiple attempts and minutes of their time.

 To make this process faster and successful the first time, we need to be
 able to differentiate people connecting from different countries | people
 at risk and not at risk | people who are censored and not censored,
 tighten the window for error notifications and give advice, and generally
 make the settings easier to configure. One grand vision is to one day not
 involve users in toggling network settings, and to ask for consent and
 just give them one button that connects them to Tor safely and reliably.

 = Objective =

 To make it easier for users to connect to Tor, we're going to make some
 changes to Tor Launcher. We've broken this effort down into three stages:

 1. design changes: we're going to make interface-only changes that will
 help the users.
 1. naive automation: we're going to automate the connection process, by
 some sort of behavior. We haven't decided on what that behavior is yet,
 but there are multiple ways to do this. One way would be to try a bunch of
 relays/bridges in a specific order, and stop when one is reachable.
 Another way would be to try all the relays/bridges at the same time, and
 return one that works to the user.
 1. smart automation: this is a "make it work" button that people can
 relatively safely click, and it will work for people in most environments
 with minimized risk. We haven't decided on what that behavior is yet
 either, but one way to do this is to meek-front the connection, work with
 bridgeDB and/or some way to identify where the user is from, and give them
 a relay/bridge that works the first time.

--

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/21951#comment:11>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online