Re: Torbutton 1.1.8-alpha (Usability improvements)

["Michael_google gmail_Gersten" <keybounce@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Usability complications also arise though. If the user says they want
> to keep their Tor cookies in a jar (or left alone entirely), should
> new nym still clear them? I think so, esp since cookies can be
> injected and stolen by exit nodes (even many https ones). But other
> people may disagree.  Some people really like cookies. I wouldn't
> expect those people to also like Tor, but I'm sure they're out there.
>
>
> --
> Mike Perry
> Mad Computer Scientist
> fscked.org evil labs

I can think of two groups of people using Tor. There may be others.
1. No one should have any ability to trace me. I need to be completely
anonymous. That I visited a site on subject X could boil a teapot
(Rape victim site; someone in China going to an anti-government site).

Such users need to have no cookies persist after a session.

2. People whose government can freely grab any information about them
from their ISP; people who consider their browsing history / click
stream / search requests to be private, even when their country
considers that random snooping in those for something that might link
them to potential criminals to be justifiable behavior.

Such users are not nearly as concerned about persistent cookies, as
long as they can control which cookies are persistent.

I think that's the real issue I have with cookies. The idea that a
cookie can be "permanent" without my approval. I have no problem with
login cookies. I have every problem with third party cookies being
accepted at all (the only place where IE is better than firefox --
those can be disabled in IE). I hate "visitor tracking" cookies that
seem to get stuffed out by every website hoster now-a-days.

Now, how do httpS: streams get their cookies stolen or modified?