[tor-talk] So much for using ixquick and Startpage: Now broken w/Tor

Soul Plane soulplane11 at gmail.com
Sat Nov 8 19:00:25 UTC 2014


On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 10:44 AM, l.m <ter.one.leeboi at hush.com> wrote:

> It's not broken. They explain clearly that the concurrent use of
> ixquick/startpage by multiple Tor users at a given exit relay can
> trigger automated abuse blocking. They're right. It could be abuse.
> The same reason Google does it. Why is this a surprise? The problem
> with Google is the connection sometimes 'spills' over to new circuits
> which puts you into an infinite loop of entering captchas. This makes
> Google just block some exit relays entirely for a time because of
> repeated failed captchas. Google really wants to make money so if they
> set a cookie for one of your circuits, and ask for a captcha, which
> then 'spills' to a new circuit, and you just choose a new
> identity--well it shouldn't be a surprise they decide to block a bunch
> exits for lost revenue. Just try your search on startpage/ixquick with
> a new identity.
>

Thanks, I know I can do that but I don't want to do that. Their help page
says  "Both Ixquick and StartPage are compatible with Tor, although use of
VPNs and Proxy services (including Tor) may occasionally trigger our
anti-abuse mechanisms. If so, you will temporarily be presented with a
small warning message, or a request to complete a CAPTCHA before continuing
with your search." [1]

I didn't get captchas and the warning didn't go away. So it seems broken.
It's a block unless you change identities until you get one that works. If
you have to repeatedly change identities doesn't that do something to
lessen anonymity?

[1]:
https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/en/Knowledgebase/Article/View/288/0/how-does-startpage-interact-with-tor


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