Dear Tails Developers,
I'm a regular Tails user (currently on 7.1) who values the project's commitment to privacy and amnesia, but I've been puzzled by the persistent choice to default Tor Browser to the 'Standard' security level. While I understand the emphasis on out-of-the-box usability for newcomers, this setting undermines the core privacy ethos for the majority of users by enabling features like autoplaying videos and JavaScript on non-HTTPS sites—risks that could lead to unintended tracking or exploits.
The 'Safer' level offers a compelling middle ground: it disables autoplay (a clear privacy win), blocks JS on insecure HTTP connections (aligning perfectly with Tor's threat model), and imposes only minimal functionality loss (e.g., no major site breakage, unlike 'Safest'). Most importantly, it reduces user error—many of us, myself included, forget to manually adjust the slider each boot, resulting in accidental lower-privacy sessions. Enabling persistence for this setting (a great addition since 5.8) helps power users, but it doesn't address the default experience for first-time or occasional boots.
Community sentiment echoes this: Recent discussions on r/tails (e.g., threads from 2024-2025 on security levels and persistence) show a strong preference for 'Safer' among experienced users, with frequent complaints about the extra step. If 'Safer' became the default, it would normalize higher protection without increasing fingerprinting risks—assuming high adoption, it keeps the user pool uniform, just at a safer baseline. Users needing full JS for specific sites (e.g., certain .onion services) could still dial back easily.
I'd love to hear your thoughts: Is there plans to shift the default to 'Safer' in an upcoming release, perhaps 7.3 or 8.0? This small change could make Tails even more intuitive for privacy-focused folks without sacrificing accessibility.
Thank you for your tireless work—it's made a real difference in my digital safety.
Best regards,
Ricardo Bishop
bishop020923proton.me@???
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