yes the overall transaction is safe but the individual node sending that transaction/block is recorded with the IP logged. Mass collection with a large spy network would easily enable a semi reliable initiator logging system that could be used later for any purpose. You could connect to a public node to hide and not send from personal node but then again the public node itself could be a spy node too. Its all about collecting general metadata for use with other data to be cross examined when the time is needed.

[–] mister_monster@monero.town 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, the concept of a ban list seems ripe for abuse. We have to trust someone to tell us canonically who the bad nodes are, people can slap a fed honeypot node label on you for not going along with something.

What we need to do is design the system such that a bad node can do nothing but participate in the network. Just like the mining incentive structure with nakamoto consensus. Dandelion++ is supposed to do that, at least for everyone broadcasting their transactions only to initial nodes they know and trust. I don't know how to do that, but a blacklist is a dangerous stopgap.

[–] Wave@monero.town 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

👍

transactions only to initial nodes they know and trust. I don’t know how to do that

Create your own fullnode and leave it running all the time. So don't just start it when it is needed for transactions or interactions with Monero. There are also very accessible methods for this, such as PiNodeXMR, which easily converts an SBC such as RaspberryPi into a secure Monero full node.
Use Tor and a known trusted Tor node, e.g. hashvaultsvg2rinvxz7kos77hdfm6zrd5yco3tx2yh2linsmusfwyad.onion from hashvault Pool.
Use VPN (and a known trusted node)