Re: [tor-talk] Torbirdy

[Jacob Appelbaum <jacob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 1/27/15, Dave Warren <davew@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 2015-01-26 03:10, Cypher wrote:
>> Also, since the only
>> data leaked seems to be the local datetime, I'd think it's not a massive
>> concern since my local datetime is shared with a few million other
>> people.
>
> While true, the time*zone* is also mentioned, and timezones can be a
> more interesting kettle of proverbial fish. Timezone rules vary from
> region to region, and so upon observing the dates your DST rules apply,
> I might determine your country or geopolitical location more
> specifically then just a 1/24th slice of the planet (plus all those
> funky :30 zones)
>
> More complicated is when you travel, if you update the timezone on your
> machine, this information is leaked too, so over time, your timezone
> information may actually reveal your travel to a very broad degree.
> Chances are that it would only take a very small number of
> cross-timezone trips for a gov't actor to correlate your timezone shifts
> with your travel itinerary, assuming such information is made available
> now or in the future.
>

Of course, which is why we note that this is an issue, one which must
be fixed in Thunderbird sadly.

> For most people, it's probably not a major risk, but for those who's
> livelihood or freedom relies upon anonymity, this is just the sort of
> leak that Big Data can use.
>

Remember we're comparing Thunderbird without TorBirdy vs with
TorBirdy: it is strictly better, even if imperfect.

All the best,
Jacob
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