[tor-talk] Thunderbird, GMail and Tor - is it safe?

[Phillip]

Hi,

My question is about the safety of using Thunderbird to send e-mail
through Tor.

A little background: I run a moderate capacity (~500-600 kb/s) Tor
relay. I've configured my Thunderbird client to use the Tor network, as
well as to not leak DNS resolves, and I've verified through test e-mails
that they are being sent to the GMail server through a Tor exit node. My
accounts are configured to use SSL/TLS for both IMAP and SMTP.

I understand that once e-mail leaves the GMail servers, it's about as
secure as sending an open post card.

My question is whether the SSL/TLS connections between my e-mail client
and the GMail server are being made through the Tor network, and whether
using Tor in such a way exposes my otherwise unencrypted e-mail to a
greater risk of being skimmed by, say, a potentially hostile Tor exit node?

My goal is simply to anonymise my IP, which gets leaked gratuitously by
Thunderbird, and to ensure that the e-mail gets to the GMail server as
securely as if I was using the https web mail.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Cheers,

Phillip