Re: [tor-talk] Will Tor affect Internet Explorer? (newbie question)

[Buck Calabro <kc2hiz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 13 July 2013 20:04, Gabrielle wrote:
> So it's like a parallel highway? But both highways still remain useable?

Yes.

> See, what I  want to do is use IE for frivolous fun stuff
> (Youtube, pop culture websites) and use Tor to research more serious topics.
> What would happen if I tried to do that?

I myself am late to the privacy philosophy - I'm using Gmail :-(  Most
Tor users are far more serious than I am about being all anonymous,
all the time.  The real question is this: Why do you only want
anonymity some of the time?  I can infer that you prefer the
convenience of Flash games and Javascript-enabled web pages.  Every
security decision involves trade-offs, and if that's your decision,
then there you are.

> Also, which programs would need to be reconfigured? The only ones
> I really use in conjunction with IE are iTunes and Adobe, and that's mostly for recreation.

You might be surprised how many programs you currently run access the
internet.  Or even that are running without you realising it!  For an
eye opener, download a personal firewall like Zone Alarm or BlackIce
and set it up to ask you about every request the system makes to the
internet.  In a very short while, you will get tired of all the
prompts.  That's because there are many, many processes that want to
talk to the internet - even Windows itself does it.

This isn't intended to scare you, but to inform you.  Security is all
about trade-offs and compromises.  If you are an activist in an
oppressive country, I would not advise you to run any Flash-based
game, ever.  If you're in the US, maybe the fact that they track you
only 80% of the time is good enough for you.  Remember, your computer
is almost constantly using the internet whether you have iTunes
running or not.  This is why really serious people don't use the Tor
Browser Bundle; they know that Windows is leaking personal information
all the time.

People here recommend Tails (https://tails.boum.org/) because it's a
way to get the entire computer to use Tor.  Maybe, for you, the
convenience of Flash and Javascript is just too important to give up.
That's fine, but understand that you're trading anonymity for
convenience.

Try Tails for a while and see what it's like to be pretty much
anonymous on the web.  If that's too inconvenient, try the Tor Browser
Bundle.  You'll be better equipped to make decisions about anonymity
vs convenience after you've tried the tools out.
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