[tor-bugs] #24527 [Applications/Tor Launcher]: Inform users in Tor Launcher of which settings are best for them based on their country

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#24527: Inform users in Tor Launcher of which settings are best for them based on
their country
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 Reporter:  hellais                              |          Owner:  brade
     Type:  enhancement                          |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                               |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Launcher            |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                               |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-team, s32-o32a2,                  |  Actual Points:
  TorBrowserTeam202004                           |
Parent ID:  #31283                               |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                       |        Sponsor:
                                                 |  Sponsor30-can
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Changes (by phw):

 * cc: cohosh (added)


Comment:

 Replying to [comment:12 phw]:
 > This ticket is similar to #28531, in which we're trying to publish a
 snapshot of how one can get Tor to work in different countries. Tor
 Browser could use this snapshot to decide that's best for the user.
 [[br]]
 Following up on this comment: We briefly discussed this ticket during our
 [https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/meetings/2019Stockholm/Notes/S30
 Sponsor 30 kickoff meeting] in Stockholm. In summary, we need 1) a way for
 Tor Browser to figure out where it is (ideally, we want to know the
 client's country and autonomous system number) and 2) data that can tell
 Tor Browser what to do, once it knows where it is.

 To accomplish 2), we could curate a censorship measurement snapshot (see
 #28531) and put it into Tor Browser. This snapshot maps countries and/or
 autonomous system numbers to circumvention methods. For example, the
 snapshot can tell Tor Browser that if a user is in ASN1234 in Egypt, Tor
 Browser requires a bridge from BridgeDB to bootstrap. Equipped with this
 information, Tor Browser can then immediately make a moat request without
 any assistance from the user. This will decrease the friction for users
 because they don't need to figure out what does and does not work in their
 country. As
 [https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24527?replyto=12#comment:5
 cypherpunks pointed out above], we won't always get it right, so Tor
 Browser should try to be helpful if our circumvention snapshot is
 incorrect.

 Does this sound reasonable? If so, the anti-censorship team can start
 populating this snapshot with whatever we know about censoring countries.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24527#comment:14>
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