Ending domestic violence, NNEDV, and Tor

by phobos | August 10, 2011

I was invited to speak at the annual technical conference of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, http://nnedv.org/. Over the past few years, I've been personally involved with helping victims and survivors of abuse. In many cases, it has been education and helping them understand what's possible on the Internet, methods to protect their privacy, and methods to control what data trails they leave behind. I've been deeply disturbed after meeting survivors of sexual slavery, human trafficking, and child abuse. The realities of life for these people while they were being abused, and the systematic failures of the systems set up to protect and help them, is shocking. The law enforcement officers and those offering services and direct support to these victims often suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Everyone involved with the results of abuse seems to need help all around.

Many people simply assume that the only answer is to disconnect and never go online again. However, often your data is online, even if you are not. Many services, friends, and access to information is increasingly available online only. Disconnecting isn't really an option, especially if you need to find support, shelter, and services to help you. Conversely, if you're a survivor, part of the healing process is to help others. The ability to go online anonymously and join forums, chat, or email with others in a bad place can be the difference between life and death. This is also true for those in law enforcement and support services. They need to share with people, heal and be healed. In many cases, they don't want this associated to anything a search engine, future employer, or current partners will find. They cherish their anonymity.

I did two presentations, the first was loosely about cloud computing, centralized reporting, and putting your victim's and survivor's data online. The core idea was to transfer knowledge, not recommend any one product or solution. I believe people can better assess risks when they understand the data to support their decisions. This presentation is here, https://svn.torproject.org/svn/projects/presentations/2011-08-08-orgran….

The second presentation was more about Tor and how survivors and victims can and have used Tor in the past to regain some control of their online privacy and anonymity. This second presentation is here, https://svn.torproject.org/svn/projects/presentations/2011-08-08-NNEDV-….

I'm glad NNEDV exists, and that we can help, even if in some small way, such as doing a couple of presentations.

Comments

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August 12, 2011

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Hi, I'm from China. I tried to email to get tor bridges multiples times using gmail and yahoo but I got no replies. Anything wrong? Thanks

September 23, 2011

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http://www.hacker10.com/internet-anonymity/blackbeltprivacy-a-p2p-darkn…

We had a little to-and-fro with hacker 10. They wanted us to enable a superDarkNet() as opposed to our darkNet() by using onion-addressing thus pushing p2p over Tor, which we all know is a big no-no for those who are using Tor in censored areas, they need the bandwidth.

I include the conversation as a link above and and we finally reached consensus.

WASTE gives you an RSA Public/Private key established 2048bit blowfish encrypted pipe for p2p. No one knows who you are talking to or downloading from so its as anonymous as it needs to be. We will be building peerGuarded darkBIOS() (darkNet() Basic Input Output System) nodes and bundling them with Tor for the foreseeable future. We are doing our bit to get Tor back to its roots of HTTP traffic serving and NOT p2p traffic serving.

What is the point of encasing WASTE p2p traffic (already anonymous and encrypted) in a Tor onion communications channel !!!

We got your back Tor Project.... ;-)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/blackbeltpriv/

Callsign: Spiderman
Telegraphic Anthropomorphic Student
Meta-Physical Atomics
Fractallic Awakening Center
Swarm Software Research Laboratories.

... we put the passion back into compassion...
... on the edges of Chaos, you'll find us !
... one quantum from way point alpha.

September 24, 2011

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We are still not sure that baking bridges into our BlackBelt Privacy installer is a good idea.

We would love ideas on this from users and the Tor community.

September 26, 2011

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We are also releasing darkBIOS(). This is the darkNet DNA that enables connectivity for those hell bent on p2p - yes we feel your pain and suffering and the need to ease your crack like addiction to p2p :-)
.
Each darkBIOS() can handle around 60,000 users so far.

We will then also be working on darkDev(). This will be a development suite that will help users develop their own darkNets() empowering people who are not as demonic as Swarm Software Development Labs, when it comes to software development.

This is our little effort to help the Tor community move p2p users off of Tor and keep Tor as a clean global web server (in our eyes).

We hope in our small way we are helping the Tor community.

Swarm Software Research Labs.
... we put the passion back into compassion...
... on the edges of Chaos, you'll find us !
... one quantum from way point alpha.

September 26, 2011

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DarkX() technology stack features.... do your bit to help the Tor community keep p2p traffic of their network and in the darkNet() where it belongs.

HELP the Tor community - dont hinder it. Play nice.

We like to extend a SPECIAL THANK YOU to the beta-testers (somali 1 & 2) who worked 24hours around the clock to get the Release Candidates ready.
Compatible with ALL browsers
Be sure to check-out the screen shots.
Friendly support provided.
Streamlined Installation Package.
No additional conguration necessary for server, client or darkNet().
One-Click Firefox Configuration.
Optional Tor Relaying, bandwidth restricted.
No functional changes, only internal and external parameters have been optimised.
Regularly updated - we ensure you get the best out of Tor.
*** NOW UPDATED : darkNet() included !
*** NOW UPDATED : Plugins to improve privacy with Firefox included !
*** NOW UPDATED : includes Tor Browser Plugin 1.4.3
*** NOW UPDATED : includes latest Tor Release Candidate, Tor: 0.2.2.33-rc
*** NOW UPDATED : darkNet() employs new superScale() technology for resilience
*** NOW UPDATED : built in web serving as a Tor hidden service. Now you can serve onion-addressed HTTP content
NOTE: Screen shots may differ due to our continuous development cycle.
PLEASE rate and review, this keeps us on our toes and ensures we get the best to you ASAP.
Employs: fractalCurve(), rabidCycle(), tangent(), hotBake() and darkRendezvous() technologies.

Swarm Software Research Laboratories.
... we put the passion back into compassion...
... on the edges of Chaos, you'll find us !
... one quantum from way point alpha.