[tor-bugs] #25959 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Add uBlock Origin to Tor Browser Bundle

["Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki" <blackhole@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

#25959: Add uBlock Origin to Tor Browser Bundle
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     Reporter:  tremvonk                  |      Owner:  tbb-team
         Type:  enhancement               |     Status:  new
     Priority:  Medium                    |  Milestone:
    Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |    Version:
     Severity:  Normal                    |   Keywords:  ublock origin, ads
Actual Points:                            |  Parent ID:
       Points:                            |   Reviewer:
      Sponsor:                            |
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 ''Read before closing as wontfix: I am familiar with the Tor Browser
 [https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/#philosophy design
 philosophy] of not relying on filters for security. This request, unlike
 ticket:15279, has nothing to do with possible security benefits of uBlock
 Origin.''

 I think that Tor browser bundle would benefit from including uBlock Origin
 as an adblocker by default. Consider the benefits:

 1. **Ads waste bandwidth.** To see just how much I ran tests using Tor
 Browser at medium security level on two major news organizations' sites:
 [https://www.economist.com the Economist] and [https://www.nytimes.com the
 New York Times]. The results were striking: without uBlock Origin, the
 Economist's website loaded 12.6 MB with 135 requests and the New York
 Times' website loaded 7.6 MB with 235 requests. With uBlock Origin, the
 Economist's website loaded 5.8 MB with 443 requests and the New York
 Times' website loaded 5.0 MB with 85 requests. **uBlock Origin reduced the
 page size by 54% for The Economist and 34% for the New York Times.**
 Granted, newspapers are particularly bad offenders when it comes to
 bloating the page with ads, but, however we slice it, we still stand to
 save considerable amounts of bandwidth.

 2. **It makes TBB more usable.** Blocking that many MB of ads can only
 make the webpage load faster and gives an overall nicer user experience
 (does anybody really want to see those ads?) which, in turn, helps
 encourage more people use TBB.

 3. It makes TBB and TAILS browser fingerprint look more alike.

 Now, I did see the section of the Tor Browser
 [https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/#philosophy design
 philosophy] that opposed adblockers in TBB. However, consider the
 objections

 1. ''Damages TBB's reputation to provide non-filter-based security.'' I
 think this is no longer true - TBB has been around for long enough and its
 reputation well-established enough that I doubt users will be confused -
 especially that the truth is readily findable by anyone who cares to look.
 Moreover, TAILS browser has been shipping with uBlock Origin for quite a
 while now and it caters to an even-more security-conscious crowd than just
 TBB.

 2. ''Makes ad-supported websites dislike TBB.'' Currently, over 1/4 of
 internet users use an adblocker
 ([http://www.businessinsider.com/pagefair-2017-ad-blocking-report-2017-1
 see here]). If websites dislike adblockers, they have a lot more problems
 than just TBB. In any case, the fraction of sites that will dislike TBB
 for using an adblocker will be small compared to the fraction of sites
 that dislike TBB just for using Tor.

 **Therefore, Tor browser bundle should follow TAILS' example and add
 uBlock Origin to the browser by default.**

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/25959>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online

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