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When I connect to an HTTPS website on an online web browser such as https://www.browserling.com/, is my connection still secure, or will the online web browser I use be able to see my traffic? I am aware that HTTPS guarantees that there are no eavesdroppers between the client and the server, but wouldn't the server see the online browser instead of my actual browser as the client? Wouldn't my data be decrypted on their online browser and re-encrypted and sent back to my actual browser via the online browsers HTTPS, thus allowing them access to my encrypted data?

I know no one between me and the online browser would be able to see my traffic (as long as it has HTTPS), but what about the web browser itself seeing the HTTPS data received using it?

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In the worst case "online browser" is a bunch of figures and a label https:// in the URL bar means nothing.

There is no computational security scheme which addresses your use case. The security of connection between you and the site which you open in the so called "online browser" reduces to how much you trust the "online browser" operating site.

Wouldn't my data be decrypted on their online browser

As I said there is no computational security in this use case. An "online browser" cannot be implemented in a way which secures the traffic between you and the website you want to access. An "online browser" cannot work without getting unencrypted data as no existing program can.

Summary:

  • "online browser" operator has all the data which would be secured with HTTPS otherwise
  • whether "online browser" uses HTTPS to communicate with target website or not is not computationally recognisable

will the online web browser I use be able to see my traffic?

Yes.

wouldn't the server see the online browser instead of my actual browser as the client?

It would. (the online browser may imitate your browser if it "wants")

Wouldn't my data be decrypted on their online browser and re-encrypted and sent back to my actual browser via the online browsers HTTPS, thus allowing them access to my encrypted data?

Your data is not encrypted end-to-end, it only gets encrypted with "online website" before it reaches the target (if it ever is).

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  • A simple "yes they can see your data even when using https" would have sufficed...
    – Mike Lucrea
    Jan 9, 2017 at 1:35
  • Is that true? ??
    – Mike Lucrea
    Jan 9, 2017 at 1:38
  • @MikeLucrea edited.
    – Euri Pinhollow
    Jan 9, 2017 at 1:48
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  • Your connection to https://browserling.com is secure.
  • The connecting from that browser VM to an HTTPS website is probably secure. You can't guarantee that the browserling.com staff didn't install their own root certificates to intercept seemingly secure HTTPS traffic from within one of the online browsers.
  • Also, the operators can also freely record anything you do inside that browser window, so it's more than risky to use the website for anything that you wouldn't do in public.
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