Feature #9124

(FAQ) What areas can we customize in Tails without being compromised

Added by nobodysees 2015-03-29 14:05:26 . Updated 2015-04-10 16:08:31 .

Status:
Rejected
Priority:
Normal
Assignee:
Category:
Target version:
Start date:
Due date:
% Done:

0%

Feature Branch:
Type of work:
Research
Blueprint:

Starter:
Affected tool:
Deliverable for:

Description

What can user change / customize in Tails (while running) without being compromized through the internet and located (tracked) as specific user.

Not talking about implementing user changes into Tails.
Talking about customizing running instance of Tails.

i.e.

Can user:

  • Change / customize themes and icon sets?
  • Change settings like text-size, keyboard, mouse, touchpad settings to specific values?
  • What is trackable globally through accesing internet?
  • Are there any risks of doing so? (Customize own instance of Tails)

and APPLY the same customizing each time running Tails.

_https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/warning/index.en.html_
_https://tails.boum.org/support/faq/index.en.html#index14h2_
_https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/fingerprint/index.en.html_
_https://tails.boum.org/support/known_issues/index.en.html#fingerprint_
_*https://blog.torproject.org/blog/one-cell-enough*_

What should user NEVER do while running Tails when need to be immune against aimed tracking is the highest priority?

Does user have freedom to customize his instance of Tails, text-scaling factor, tor browser configuration (like displaying settings) or all of this is strictly NOT RECOMMENDED and can lead to confirmation of attacker’s hypothesis and collected data and statistics?

Trivial question, but no clear answer about actual using / customizing Tails found.

Subtasks


History

#1 Updated by nobodysees 2015-03-29 14:08:30

Possible FAQ section about further using Tails recommended,
or any signal to the users what can they really do and what they should be cautious about.

Straightforward, clear, easy to understand.

#2 Updated by intrigeri 2015-03-29 15:53:20

> What can user change / customize in Tails (while running) without being compromized through the internet and located (tracked) as specific user.

Replying to most of these questions would first require doing serious research to be confident in our answer, and then maintaining the validity of our answer (we can’t say “yes it’s safe to do X” without regularly checking that it’s still the case).

I don’t think we have the resources to do that, so I’m afraid most of such customization will stay in “unsupported, sorry” state for the foreseeable future.

#3 Updated by intrigeri 2015-03-29 15:54:15

  • Category deleted (Accessibility)
  • Start date deleted (2015-03-29)
  • Estimated time deleted (1 h)
  • Type of work changed from End-user documentation to Research

Unless someone volunteers to do any of the needed work soonish, I think we should close this ticket.

#4 Updated by BitingBird 2015-04-10 16:08:31

  • Status changed from New to Rejected

We do have an answer to that: it’s “use the defaults and don’t change anything if you don’t know what you’re doing”.