Many of our users protect their privacy and defend themselves against snooping advertising companies by using
Tor. This has been the case from day one at Coinkite and we accept that everyone has their own reasons.
Until now, these users have been using the
Tor Browser and simply surfing to Coinkite.com using that wonderful package. Starting today, anyone who wishes to use Tor with Coinkite can also use our new
“onion address" to connect directly to Coinkite over the Tor network:
-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
http://gcvqzacplu4veul4.onion-----BEGIN SIGNATURE-----
1GPWzXfpN9ht3g7KsSu8eTB92Na5Wpmu7g
H14Bs/jfRs3mTFKiBAj2yWkqWKGPJwW82I2Po/wWN/dsFXZApXLq7M5ioRrkEP0MMPsjGb3knIQXaO6FN+rdRu0=
-----END BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
- The main font is not Open Sans, but something a little more plain.
- Maps are not displayed because that leaks data to the map graphics provider.
- Videos are removed for privacy reasons (only used in a few FAQ entries).
- In-browser notifications (popup at top of screen) are not available. SMS and Email alerts will still happen however.
- The Coinkite store works a little differently: you need to reload after adding to your cart.
What are the advantages to using the onion address?- Does not consume precious resources at the Tor exit nodes.
- The exit nodes do not see your traffic, although it would be encrypted anyway (HTTPS).
- Does not reveal your traffic to USA-based CloudFlare which is used for all normal HTTPS traffic.
- Additional privacy as a few external services are not used (maps, videos, google analytics).
- Slightly faster or much faster depending on chance.
New to Tor?The best and easiest way to get started is by installing and using the
Tor Browser. First though, take the time to learn more about the
Tor Project and the
many faces of it’s users. Almost everyone has a reason to get some extra privacy from using Tor occasionally.
I never plan to use Tor. Can I block it?Yes, you can disable all access to your account over Tor, using a new setting under your account’s
Misc Security Options.But only criminals use Tor!Certainly there have been some well-known criminal sites on the “dark web” that transact in Bitcoin, just like the normal web. Coinkite is a site with both a very public face and an onion address, so we are obviously something quite different. For more on this topic, start here with the
Tor Abuse FAQ.Final Notes- Please report any privacy problems you find with onion service so we can address them to protect all our users.
- We reserve the right to suspend these Tor features if they are abused.
Read the rest on the official post here
