Since the Tor Browser recently replaced Startpage to Disconnect as the default search engine on the Tor Browser homepage, the old Startpage submission URL and POST parameters have also since changed.
Currently the Whonix Welcome Page is sending an old unique search fingerprint that is no longer in use to Startpage.
This can be confirmed by looking at the Request URL and the Params in the Network Monitor of Tor Browser’s Developer Tools as you submit such queries.
Here is the fix for the Whonix Welcome Page HTML source code…
Changed:
- New URL: https://startpage.com/rto/search
- Removed: name=“b” parameter
Old and out of date:
<form action="https://startpage.com/rth/search" method="post" autocomplete="off">
<input tabindex="2" type="submit" name="b" value="" />
<input tabindex="1" type="search" name="q" value="" placeholder="Search with Startpage.com" required="required" autocomplete="off" autofocus="autofocus" />
New and up to date:
<form action="https://startpage.com/rto/search" method="post" autocomplete="off">
<input tabindex="2" type="submit" value="" />
<input tabindex="1" type="search" name="q" value="" placeholder="Search with Startpage.com" required="required" autocomplete="off" autofocus="autofocus" />
This will make the search query to Startpage now be the exact same as searches submitted via the current upper-right search bar of Tor Browser, so that they look no different and can’t be profiled as coming from Whonix Welcome Page.
Edit by Patrick:
extended title ’ / removed Search Box’