CSCI 102T

The Socio-Techno Web

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Project 1: Discovering Tor

This week begins our first of two independent research projects: an investigation of Tor. We will each investigate Tor and communicate our findings in a post on our web pages. Your post should explore Tor's technical details and societal implications, and be roughly equivalent to two Tutorial assignments (~6 pages).
More details are below.

Goals

• Perform independent research about an unfamiliar technology (Tor)
• Explain an technically challenging topic (Tor) in a manner that is suitable for a non-technical audience
• Speak about the societal implications of Tor
• Take a stance on Tor and Tor usage, and back your opinion by evidence from your research
• Use the rich features of the web to communicate your work:
  • links
  • images
  • HTML/CSS formatting

Technical Concepts

During your research, you may encounter some unfamiliar terms. Challenge yourselves to explore those terms and communicate the ideas they represent. Most things we have seen so far this semester have intuitive explanations, but jargon acts as a barrier to understanding. You may come across some or all of the following terms and ideas:

• Overlay networks
• Onion routing
• A security "threat model" (including Tor's threat model)
• Peer-to-peer networks
• Public-key encryption
• Congestion control
• Terminology that may have Tor-specific meanings:
• Circuits
• Streams
• Rendezvous points

Your project should include descriptions of any of the above concepts if their explanations are necessary to understand how Tor functions and is used. You should not assume a reader understands Tor's technical details.

Societal Implications

Tor has many practical and potential uses. Depending on your views, some of those uses may positively impact society, and some may not. Please select one or more of the ways that Tor has been used and explore it in detail. Possible directions include:

• Censorship
• Anonymity and whistleblowing
• The "Dark Web
• The silk road
• ...

If you come across other interesting uses for Tor, you should not feel restricted by the list above.

Readings

There are no required readings for this project. You should seek out and find sources on your own. In addition to readings, there are many videos, podcasts, and blogs that discuss Tor and Tor's usage; you should not limit yourself to "traditional" articles and texts.
There is a very technical paper by by Roger Dingledine, Nick Mathewson, and Pal Syverson called Tor: The Second-Generation Onion Router that may serve as a starting point, although the paper is not particularly accessible on its own. The authors assume that the reader has a strong technical background.

Assignment

• Write a post to your personal web page about Tor. The post should be equivalent to two turorial meetings worth of content (~6 pages). You should cite your work as if it were a normal submission.


• Your post should communicate the basics of Tor's technical details in language that is suitable for a non-expert.


• Your post should examine, in detail, at least one way that Tor is used in the real world.


• Your post should express an opinion on Tor. Is it a net positive for society? Should it's usage be regulated or banned? Should it be the default way we communicate? There is no right or wrong answer, but you should clearly express and justify your opinion.