The Road Not Taken: Re-thinking the Feasibility of Voice Calling Over Tor
Sharma Piyush Kumar, Shashwat Chaudhary, Nikhil Hassija, Mukulika Maity, Sambuddho Chakravarty · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · 2020
Anonymous VoIP calls over the Internet holds great significance for privacy-conscious users, whistle-blowers and political activists alike. Prior research deems popular anonymization systems like Tor unsuitable for providing the requisite performance guarantees that real-time applications like VoIP need. Their claims are backed by studies that may no longer be valid due to constant advancements in Tor. Moreover, we believe that these studies lacked the requisite diversity and comprehensiveness. Thus, conclusions from these studies, led them to propose novel and tailored solutions. However, no such system is available for immediate use. Additionally, operating such new systems would incur significant costs for recruiting users and volunteered relays, to provide the necessary anonymity guarantees.