[tor-dev] Tor Network Expansion Question/Suggestion

[Beecher Bruno <beecherbruno1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

I don’t know much in the ways of how the actual coding works, but I’m very familiar with computers. I’m a student in Network Systems Engineering Technology in the USA. After being introduced to Tor several years ago, I loved it. I recently had a potentially good idea in making the Tor network more resilient against tracking/surveillance attempts. 

My basic understanding is that information from one computer gets transmitted to a node, bounced around between different nodes, and then spit out somewhere else. Or, at least, that’s what it would look like from the outside, making it extremely difficult to pin down the actual origin computer. (Please do forgive me if this is an inaccurate representation). 

But what about expanding the network significantly, without truly widening the load on all the nodes? 

My idea was essentially this: an app for mobile devices and/or computers that would ask for consent from the user. Upon consent, that device could essentially fake its identity, so that everyone outside the network thought it was a node? Data that’s actually sent between nodes could just put in a random “fake” node at the beginning and end of a packet so, as far as anyone else knows, that data went through an extra two nodes? 

Just in case that’s not clear, imagine a Tor node receives packet A in Washington DC. On its complicated, 3 node journey to the end node in Hongkong, random devices that have been consented to be “fake nodes” will have added themselves in. Theoretically, by the time it arrives in Hongkong, this 5 node journey (DC Hongkong and the 3 in between) will look on the outside to be a 6 or 7 node journey.

I’m not sure if this is possible, but if it is, I think it could help protect people’s privacy even more.

I do apologize for emailing this list, I couldn’t exactly find an “Contact Us” page, probably for good reason.

Have a great day!

Stay safe out there.

Beecher

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