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If I run a hidden service would my onion address get published or become available to anyone without me telling them the actual address? Or, if not, when would my onion address' existence become public knowledge?

The distributed hash table mentioned at http://idnxcnkne4qt76tg.onion/docs/hidden-services.html.en sounds like it might include public knowledge on the hidden service descriptor and possibly its actual address. Wouldn't that mean that anyone could then start sending me any traffic they wanted just by knowing my onion address?

My main concern here is that just by running a hidden service an attacker could come to learn about its existence (even if I don't make it public knowledge) and that they then could start sending identifying traffic to my node as a way to find my location (assuming they also were my first hop into Tor or my had my ISPs traffic logs).

tl;dr

  1. If I created a hidden service and began to host it but I never told anyone the address could anyone aside from me come to learn of the onion address?
  2. If I connected to the onion from a remote location would the address then become known to any third party?
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The relays that host your hidden service descriptors know of your hidden service as soon as you set it up. In the current design that is required so that clients can actually learn your hidden service's introduction point.

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