[tor-talk] Brave Review Mentions Tor

[Drew at FoundingDocuments.org]

A few-days-old review.

Since Brave is the browser for OnionBrowser on iOS, I figured I’d read the article. 

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3453376/brave-10-review-this-excellent-privacy-focused-browser-can-make-you-money-too.html
> Not only can you open a private window, but you can open an even deeper level of privacy and use the Tor onion-routing network as well.


> …seeing ads start popping up in the Tor sites I visited made me quickly wonder what the hell I was doing.


The author is not clear enough if “Tor sites” means .onion sites or sites accessed through an exit node. 

My own personal aside is I tried Vidalia years ago (my mother alerted me to it) back in the days of MacOS X 10.4 or 10.5. But instead of an increase in ads, what got my attention was that Little Snitch (https://obdev.at/) was no longer intercepting and alerting me to most connection attempts. I felt Little Snitch was being undermined.  Since I had a hazy understanding of Tor and what was happening, I stopped using it. That was then, this is now. 


In the two-paragraph-mention are two links to other articles about Tor. So I read both. The latter link “wander through the Darknet” is near total rubbish and reminds me that since the 1980’s, as a Mac user, I’ve been subject to their horrible reporting and dumb insults. 

This other article isn’t so bad. But the last line in the second paragraph is outrageous. So vague as to range from 100% fraudulent to intensely misleading thus bad advice. Perhaps it was expos-facto tacked on to the article by someone other than the author. 

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2686467/how-to-use-the-tor-browser-to-surf-the-web-anonymously.html
> Connecting to the Tor network from your own PC is quick and painless thanks to the Tor project's dead simple Tor Browser. (Want even more privacy? Check out the top picks from our VPN reviews.) 

1) Ditch Tor altogether and go with one of our top picks for VPN services for even more privacy.
Analysis: A complete lie. 

2) Use Tor but add even more privacy by purchasing a service through a VPN company we reviewed.
Analysis: This advice add expense, slowdowns, and false security of being protected by a VPN company.