sajolida wrote:
> alienpup:
> > sajolida wrote:
> >> alienpup:
> >>> Let's consider triggering donation prompts based on both elapsed time
> >>> *and* number of Tails boots/Tor Browser starts. We otherwise risk
> >>> "targeting" frequent/regular/committed Tails users far more often
> >>> than new/occasional/infrequent users.
> >>>
> >>> The number of boots versus elapsed days can then be adjusted to focus
> >>> on one of these two user groups, or both together.
> >>
> >> Hi alienpup,
> >>
> >> I don't understand your proposal. What do you mean by "elapsed time"?
> >>
> >> If you mean the number of days that passed since the user last started
> >> Tails, then I don't think we can have this data to use it on our website.
> >>
> >> If you mean something else, please elaborate or rephrase your proposal.
> >
> > "elapsed time" would be calendar/real time.
> >
> > An example. Assume that the Tails donation prompt is designed to appear every 3 Tor Browser starts or every 5 calendar days, which ever is GREATER.
> >
> > Bob boots Tails/ starts Tor Browser several times a day. He reaches 3 Tor Browser starts every day, but the donation prompt appears only every 5th day because that interval is greater. Bob does not suffer donation prompt fatigue.
> >
> > Alice boots Tails/ starts Tor Browser 3 or 4 of times a week. She sees the donation prompt once every 5 or 6 days. Alice does not suffer donation prompt fatigue.
> >
> > Bob starts Tor Browser far more often than Alice does, but the two users see the Tails donation prompt almost as often.
> >
> > Depending on need and circumstances, the Tails project can adjust these two intervals to selectively "target" frequent users versus occasional users.
>
> Ok! I like that!
>
> It seems much more complicated to code than what we have right now,
> which is a purely random thing: something like "roll a dice and if it's
> 6, display the message".
>
> So I won't do it right now and I would be super interested in ideas on
> how to implement this with basically no data on whether it's Bob or
> Alice opening up their browser.
>
> Can you think about how to code this?
>
> --
> sajolida
sajolida,
I'm not a coder so I can't help much in that regard, but I believe this would require that the number of Tor Browser starts and calendar days since last "reset" persist across Tails reboots. Thus, a persistent volume might be necessary.
Then, rather than sharing these numbers with the Tails website, code running on TailsOS would update them, and based on the latest figures, permit or block donation prompt code pushed by the website.
In this way, each Tails install manages the user's exposure to donation prompts anonymously and autonomously. Privacy and security are preserved without risk of fingerprinting.
The requirement for a persistent volume is clearly not optimal, but it shouldn't be considered a show stopper. Better minds than mine may come up with a workaround. And this need not be the only donation prompt management solution.
P.S. As an aside, I'm surprised I'm not hearing talk about TailsOS and Tails infrastructure communicating via Tor onion services. This would seem an ideal post-installation back channel solution.
regards,
alienpup
