[tor-talk] Email through Tor and VPN questions

[Advrk Aplmrkt <avkaplmkt@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,
I recently setup my own Tor relay, and its exciting!
But I've had the following questions about Tor for a while:

(1) I read in a recent list posting that paid "private" VPN services
provides no anonymity. According to some of those providers, they
don't keep any log of your connections. Is this just a marketing
gimmick, or are there other reasons why a VPN service provides no
anonymity? Is there a side by side comparison between using Tor vs
VPN?

(2) The Tor network discourages some uses of it like BitTorrent (and
other file sharing?). I can understand that from a bandwidth/speed
perspective, but if I want to share files via BitTorrent (such as a
GNU/Linux distro image), is there a way to make it more private?

(2) I am using the FoxyProxy addon in Thunderbird 6 to use Tor as a
proxy. Is this an effective way to improve my email privacy? The only
other possible issue I can think of is that my email headers are
"real", but I am not sure if that matters so much?

(3) The Tor website is now encouraging the use of the new Tor Browser
Bundle, and it seems that the TorButton Firefox addon will no longer
be supported for much longer. Does that mean the only way for
anonymous browsing via Tor is with the Tor Browser Bundle? Is there a
way I can setup usual Firefox for browsing that is just as good as the
Bundle? Perhaps by using FoxyProxy and other settings?

Answers/explanations for any or all of the above questions would be
great. Many thanks to the developers who made Tor the great service it
is today.
_______________________________________________
tor-talk mailing list
tor-talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk