[tor-talk] Ad Blocking Software

[Joe Btfsplk]

On 6/11/2014 12:50 AM, Mirimir wrote:
> Yes indeed. So why doesn't TBB include AdBlock? In my experience, 
> unlike NoScript, AdBlock Plus rarely breaks sites. Reductions in site 
> loading time are dramatic. And then there's the privacy benefit. 
The reason given in the past by Tor Project leaders, was basically, they 
don't want Tor to be perceived as being unfriendly towards sites trying 
to make a bit of money to support their sites.

Some users don't disagree so much with sites presenting modest number of 
"non-intrusive" ads, but it's hard(er) to pick & choose which ads will 
be allowed, on which sites.
Ad Block Plus makes an attempt at that w/ its hotly debated, opt out 
method of "allow some non-intrusive advertising."

 >"I think one objection against manually installing AdBlock (or other 
similar > extensions) was that you make your TBB stand out from most 
other TBB..."

I haven't seen the "browser fingerprint testing sites" being able to 
detect all addons installed, as standard practice.  If java script is 
enabled, sites may be able to guess that specific addons are installed, 
by their actions - like preventing ads from loading. Even if JS isn't 
enabled, they might be able to see that ads aren't loaded & guess that 
ABP or something is installed.  But detecting / guessing all addons - 
never heard that.

But if only 25% of TBB users have ABP & IF... sites (or adversaries) 
"guess" that it's installed by its action, then in their estimation, 
they've narrowed that particular browser characteristic down to 25% of 
TBB users.

If one lives in a free society & is doing nothing illegal under local 
laws, nor particularly interesting to internet tapping agencies, that 
might not be terribly important.
On the other hand, what's legal  or "not a concern" to LEAs today, could 
change in the future.