#TORLiedPrivacyDied

 Tor Project's Deceptive Newsletter: The OS Spoofing Lie Exposed

On May 29th, 2025, the Tor Project published a newsletter claiming, "OS spoofing has never gone away and is here to stay." This statement isn’t just misleading—it’s a direct contradiction of their own developers’ documented actions. Here’s why this deception matters and what it reveals about trusting Tor.

 The Backstory: Three Strikes Against Tor  

Before dissecting the newsletter, let’s recap Tor’s recent failures—all exposed in prior investigations:  

1. **April 22, 2025**: Tor Browser’s update [removed OS spoofing](https://gitlab.torproject.org), making users vulnerable to fingerprinting.  

2. **May 6, 2025**: The "security slider" had been broken for 11 months, falsely reassuring users.  

3. **Earlier**: Tor ignored Princeton’s proof for 9 years that BGP attacks could unmask millions.  

Combined, these videos reached over 239,000 viewers. The pattern? Systemic neglect of privacy.  

 The Newsletter Lie: "OS Spoofing Is Here to Stay"  

Tor’s May 29th newsletter stated:  

> *"Don’t worry, it’s here to stay. OS spoofing has never gone away."*  

The reality? Tor removed OS spoofing in April 2025.** Developer documentation proves it:  

- Developer Morgan [explicitly confirmed](https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43189) the removal:  

  > *"We’re no longer spoofing user agents... We can remove the relevant machinery from Firefox altogether."*  

- Developer Thorin stated in [Issue #43170](https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43170):  

  > *"Turn off spoofing OS... My intent is not to spoof the OS in Linux, Mac."*  

Worse, Tor left a "dummy switch" in the settings—a pref that does nothing after the code was ripped out. Users who enable it think they’re protected, but it’s a ghost feature.  

 Why This Removal Matters:

 Fragmented Anonymity  

Previously, Tor’s OS spoofing made all users appear as **Windows users** in HTTP headers—critical for anonymity. Now:  

- Linux users appear as Linux.  

- Mac users appear as Mac.  

- Windows users appear as Windows.  

**The consequence**: Server logs permanently record your real OS. JavaScript could already reveal your OS, but HTTP headers were the last line of defense for security-conscious users (who disable JS). Now, that’s gone.  

Tor calls this "harmonization," claiming they’ve merely made HTTP headers "consistent" with JavaScript. That’s like removing your front door lock and calling it "streamlined security."  

Tor’s Flimsy Defenses... and Their Enablers  

When confronted, Tor and its defenders resorted to:  

1. **"CSS can detect your OS anyway!"**  

   - Nonsense. CSS-based detection is speculative guesswork; HTTP headers are precise, permanent records.  

2. **"HTTPS prevents this!"**  

   - False. HTTPS encrypts traffic*in transit*, but server logs still record your OS. For onion sites (which often use HTTP, not HTTPS), the risk is worse.  

3. **"We announced this in September 2024!"**  

   - Tor buried the change in an alpha-release blog no one reads. Then blamed users for not giving "feedback."  

Worse, Tor **thanked Privacy Guides** in the newsletter for "spearheading productive discussion." Why? Privacy Guides downplayed the risk, claiming:  

> *"The risk for people on niche OS has not significantly changed."*  

But Privacy Guides has a pattern: They defended Tor’s OS removal while [attacking genuine privacy tools](https://twitter.com/GrapheneOS/status/1803829585918222477) like GrapheneOS.  

 The Real Agenda: User Choice as the Enemy  

A Tor developer laid bare their philosophy:  

> *"We are meant to discourage users from changing settings... Adding a switch allows entropy to increase, antithetical to our mission."*  

Translation: Tor believes user customization threatens anonymity. Yet they pay developers six figures (per job listings) to remove features donors fund.  

 Timeline of Deception  

- **Oct 2024**: Decision to remove OS spoofing.  

- **Apr 2025**: Code removed.  

- **Apr 22, 2025**: First video exposing the change.  

- **May 29, 2025**: Newsletter claims "OS spoofing is here to stay."  

 The Takeaway: Trust Requires Transparency  

Tor’s newsletter wasn’t just spin—it was a lie contradicted by their own developers.

When an organization:  

- Removes core privacy features,  

- Hides the changes,  

- Lies in official communications,  

- And treats user choice as a threat...  

(They bended the knee...)

**Stop funding them. Stop trusting them.**  

Donations fuel deception. Transparency matters—especially from tools promising anonymity.  

Bloggers Note - NOW do you understand why I am such a staunch supporter of Artificial Intelligence integrated software and Open Source  Software?

It has nothing to do with political beliefs, or wanting to see everyone go jobless or any of the other arguments that the anti-ai crowd bring up..

It's a privacy and trust thing... It's  a freedom thing...(If you will..) 

Before AI Coded software the only option users had would be to "jump ship" and find an alternative or hope that another project as good would somehow pop-up with all of the important features that were previously available in the product that they just dump.

Or hope that an follower of the project with coding skills would offer an alternative or fork the existing product.. But before auto coding how often did that happen? 

NOW that now the community can literally take matters into their own hands and *FORK* the TOR Code and add their own code to it to make it secure...

---

*Documentation sources*:  

- [Tor Issue #43170: "Turn off spoofing OS"](https://gitlab.torproject.org)  

- [Tor Issue #43189: Code removal confirmation](https://gitlab.torproject.org)  

- [GrapheneOS calls out Privacy Guides](https://twitter.com/GrapheneOS/status/1803829585918222477)