Publicação
Scanning the Web for Tor Browser Friendliness
| Resumo: | The Tor Browser is a crucial tool for users seeking to preserve anonymity and privacy online. However, its adoption is significantly limited by user experience (UX) issues, particularly the frequent occurrence of broken web content. This problem is both challenging and important because it not only frustrates users but also diminishes the overall anonymity set, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the Tor network. Addressing this issue is essential to encourage broader adoption of privacy-focused browsing tools. Thiswork aims to systematically identify and analyse the causes of broken functionality in the Tor Browser. To this end, a dual methodological approach is adopted. First, cognitive walkthroughs are used to capture user-facing failures across different security levels. Second, the Tor Browser Friendliness Scanner, a custom tool built with tbselenium and BeautifulSoup, is developed to automatically detect and log anomalies such as blocked scripts, missing media, font errors, and NoScript placeholders across a large number of websites. This combined approach makes it possible to pinpoint specific patterns that lead to breakage, understand their frequency, and assess their impact on user experience. The outcome of this research was the identification of the most common causes of broken content in the Tor Browser, with particular emphasis on issues related to JavaScript execution, mixed content, and media handling. The analysis revealed recurring patterns of breakage and their impact on user experience across different security levels. Based on these findings, the work provides actionable recommendations aimed at improving the Tor Browser’s compatibility with modern web standards without compromising its security guarantees. Overall, this research contributes to enhancing the usability of the Tor Browser, thereby supporting broader adoption and strengthening the anonymity set of the Tor network. |
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| Autores principais: | Guerra, Tiago Manuel da Silva |
| Assunto: | Tor Browser User Experience Web Compatibility Anonymity Privacy tbselenium |
| Ano: | 2025 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| Resumo: | The Tor Browser is a crucial tool for users seeking to preserve anonymity and privacy online. However, its adoption is significantly limited by user experience (UX) issues, particularly the frequent occurrence of broken web content. This problem is both challenging and important because it not only frustrates users but also diminishes the overall anonymity set, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the Tor network. Addressing this issue is essential to encourage broader adoption of privacy-focused browsing tools. Thiswork aims to systematically identify and analyse the causes of broken functionality in the Tor Browser. To this end, a dual methodological approach is adopted. First, cognitive walkthroughs are used to capture user-facing failures across different security levels. Second, the Tor Browser Friendliness Scanner, a custom tool built with tbselenium and BeautifulSoup, is developed to automatically detect and log anomalies such as blocked scripts, missing media, font errors, and NoScript placeholders across a large number of websites. This combined approach makes it possible to pinpoint specific patterns that lead to breakage, understand their frequency, and assess their impact on user experience. The outcome of this research was the identification of the most common causes of broken content in the Tor Browser, with particular emphasis on issues related to JavaScript execution, mixed content, and media handling. The analysis revealed recurring patterns of breakage and their impact on user experience across different security levels. Based on these findings, the work provides actionable recommendations aimed at improving the Tor Browser’s compatibility with modern web standards without compromising its security guarantees. Overall, this research contributes to enhancing the usability of the Tor Browser, thereby supporting broader adoption and strengthening the anonymity set of the Tor network. |
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