Most notably, the website WikiLeaks has its home on the dark web. The deep web provides users a level of security or privacy, but it can’t offer full anonymity. In order to have that, you’ll need to go one step further down into what is called the dark web.
Method II – VPN Over Tor
People might operate under anonymity without revealing their identity, which could protect their privacy but can also lead to illegal activities. The deep web contains private networks used by business organizations, governmental departments, and educational institutions. These are used to share and exchange information without public exposure. It consists of dynamic content generated by websites that require user interaction through forms or log-in just for proper viewing. Thus, the deep web is a significant part of various disciplines containing sensitive information that helps with academic and professional activities.
Cryptocurrency And Anonymity

It’s not easy to remove personal data from the Deep Web or Dark Web. Although most of this Deep Web can contain legitimate content that users can control with privacy settings and requests, much of the Dark Web contains data without the owners’ consent. People worrying about their data need to check their digital footprint periodically and seek services specifically offering data removal and monitoring services in order to minimize the potential risks. Search engines like Google can’t access the Deep Web and Dark Web simply because their content is not indexed.
How To Access The Deep Web? (
However, it is reasonable to know your content and ensure proper authorization. One should not undertake illegal activities such as accessing private data without consent, thereby risking further legal consequences. One must always respect the laws and regulations regarding privacy. Unlike the dark web, which majorly hosts content that is illegal or otherwise restricted in nature, the deep web hosts a wide range of material. The pages on the deep web can include paywalled websites, pay-to-access services such as Netflix, private databases, email mailboxes, and any other content that is not indexed by web search engines. If you get a reliable vendor, you should procure the services to stay safe when accessing the dark web.
You’ve no doubt heard talk of the “dark web” as a hotbed of criminal activity — and it is. Researchers Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid of King’s College in London classified the contents of 2,723 live dark web sites over a five-week period in 2015 and found that 57% host illicit material. To protect your data from the websites you visit, one of the most effective steps is to hide your IP address, which can reveal your location, identity, and browsing habits. Using a virtual private network (VPN) masks your real IP by routing your internet traffic through a secure server, making it appear as though you’re browsing from a different location.
Accessing the dark web with tools such as Tor is lawful in most democracies, but what you do there is governed by criminal, consumer‑protection and anti‑money‑laundering statutes. In every jurisdiction, buying or selling contraband—drugs, malware, counterfeit IDs—remains illegal, and penalties can be severe. The BBC’s Tor mirror (bbcnewsv2vjtpsuy.onion) delivers global news to audiences in countries that block the broadcaster’s regular site. Understanding these moving parts clarifies both the promise and peril of the dark web.

It’s a place where activists fighting for freedom and criminals exploiting vulnerabilities can coexist—sometimes on the same platform. What you find depends heavily on where and what you’re looking for. Likewise, whistleblower platforms like SecureDrop are designed specifically for the safe and anonymous submission of sensitive documents to investigative journalists. In a nutshell, the deep web includes anything behind login walls, while the dark web is a small, deliberately hidden portion of it.
Why Do People Use The Dark Web?
Consequently, you’ll have maximum privacy while sharing opinions and anti-oppression resources. OnionLinks is a library of dark web links, most importantly, active links. Depending on your preference, you can find links in well-categorized groups. These categories include email providers, news sites, privacy, and commercial services.
External Links
This lack of indexing of its content makes these layers of the internet less easily accessible and harder to navigate than the Surface Web. The deep web is defined as the internet section that is not indexed by web crawlers. The dark web, on the other hand, is defined as a subsegment of the deep web that can be accessed only with special tools. While the former is used chiefly for legitimate day-to-day online activities, the latter is more anonymous and known for illegal transactions. This article reveals the top five key differences between the dark web and the deep web. The Deep Web includes all content not indexed by search engines.This isn’t necessarily illegal—it’s just private or restricted.

I2P (Invisible Internet Project)
It doesn’t censor out any content, so you’ll have free access to more than 400,000 indexed pages. I like that you can ask the search engine to match all of your search words for exact results, or only some of them for broader search results. We recommend using a VPN when visiting the deep and the dark web to add an extra layer of protection.
That’s how we were able to discover the remains of the RMS Titanic. The search engine crawlers do the same work as done by the explorer submarines. Law enforcement agencies all over the world are aware that the Dark Web enables criminality. This is why they carefully monitor the dark web and dark web marketplaces. In the digital world, “Deep Web” and “Dark Web” often get mixed up, leading to misunderstandings.
- This hidden copy of BBC News helps people in countries like China, Russia, Zimbabwe, and Vietnam access information privately.
- This is why they carefully monitor the dark web and dark web marketplaces.
- “A lot of people use it in countries where there’s eavesdropping or where internet access is criminalized,” Tiquet said.
- Only concerned people have access to it and it is encrypted and password protected.
- Yes, police can track users on the dark web, but it’s challenging and resource-intensive, requiring advanced tools, undercover operations, and digital forensics to uncover illegal activity.
We recommend you only visit safe dark web links to explore such as The CIA, Facebook, DuckDuckGo, and Torch. Since malware lingers across the dark web, your device can easily become infected, even if you are an unsuspecting user. The use of the dark web raises suspicion as it shows there is something you want to do privately. Therefore, the legality of the dark web will mainly depend on how you use it.
Use The Tor Browser
For instance, Edward Snowden used the dark web to reveal that NSA surveils all US citizens, even if someone has no criminal history. In a nutshell, the deep web remains “open” to its respective owners and stays “closed” to others. And if someone tries to access the deep web without proper authorization, it would be termed as hacking, which is again illegal. However, maintaining security procedures is critical even though these websites are legitimate. It is worth noting that some pages on the deep web contain valuable personal data to cybercriminals.
Remember to access the Deep web links in a safe and anonymous way. Tor Search is a very efficient search engine because it indexes new content all day from the TOR network. That it is an open source project that is in charge of handling suggestions and comments anonymously. On the other hand, we have Tor2Web, which is a service that helps people who are not yet in the Tor network.