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I read several times it is a very bad idea and a huge lack of security to use the same proxy for logging into facebook or other sites containing information about real personal details e.g. linkedin and other sites e.g. Stackexchange.

What is the issue with that? E.g. I use an browser plugin and a desktop client Premium-VPN as well, both from the same company. So I am behind two encrypted proxies. And as far as I understand the technology, many other VPN-users are using the same end-node, too. E.g. I log into Facebook, linkedin and stackexchange at the same time with the same two proxies. How can this data linked together and directly point to me, my real location and identity?

Edit: Because someone asked "where I read this": One example was this german youtube video at 9:00 He says, that's stupid to login into facebook via tor, because this definitely identifies you. But why is this stupid? Because you are not the only one using this end-node.

Basically I don't get why am I traceable, when using the same proxy for multiple actions.

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  • I have decided to more or less generally downvote questions containing "I have read..." without quoting a single source. It's not our job to guess and defend/counter-proof your sources.
    – Marcus Müller
    Dec 12, 2016 at 14:36
  • I could link you a youtube video where someone says this, but it is in german. Furthermore some people just told me this. That is the case, I have no idea about the WHY. So my question how this data could be linked together or if this is just nonsense... Edit: Oh, your name seems pretty german :D:D
    – Artery
    Dec 12, 2016 at 14:38
  • "some people told me" and "a youtube video I don't link to" aren't any better, to be honest. Even a German youtube video would be better than nothing! Without a source, we can't even tell whether the question is your misunderstanding of the source, the source's misunderstanding of the situation, or the situation itself.
    – Marcus Müller
    Dec 12, 2016 at 14:40
  • And asking yourself "Is this nonsense" when watching something is a good approach. However, imagine you'd be asked to check all facts for someone else. Imagine your grandma calls you and asks "I have read computers can steal your flowers" and then you'd have to figure out whether she misunderstood something, that quotation is just out of context (maybe there was computer-based security breach at a flower market?) or there's something behind that.
    – Marcus Müller
    Dec 12, 2016 at 14:42
  • Okay, I agree. I try to find the video and the correct timestamp. Give me some minutes.
    – Artery
    Dec 12, 2016 at 14:43

1 Answer 1

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Think about it from the point of view of a law enforcement agency. They want to show that you, a suspect, might have accessed an illegal site, but all they know is that someone coming from a Tor node at a given time did it.

If no-one using that Tor node accessed any sites which require login, all they can say is that "someone" did it. If on the other hand, they ask various social media networks for data of people who logged in from a given Tor node at a specific time, they can link the use of that node to specific people. Now, they can't be sure that any of these users are the same as the one who visited the illegal site, but you can be pretty certain that those people are going to be much higher up their lists than anyone who isn't known to have been using the node at that time.

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  • So using different proxy for different sites and purposes would be better? E.g. using a proxy in germany for facebook, one in austria for linkedin and one in japan for Stackexchange?
    – Artery
    Dec 12, 2016 at 15:14

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