WEBVTT

NOTE
Subtitles for the Navigating the “Dark Web” walkthrough. They match the captions drawn on the video,
and there is no spoken narration. The music is an original score. Cue times follow
the film timeline in seconds.

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What is the dark web, and why does private networking matter? This lesson is for readers 18 years of age or older.

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The promise: you will see how onion routing hides who is talking to whom.

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Our job: learn the tools, the risks and the habits.

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First, what the words mean. The surface web is pages that search engines index.

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The deep web is pages behind a login, such as your email and bank. That is most of the web.

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The dark web is sites you can reach only with special software, such as Tor onion services and I2P.

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The name sounds sinister. The technology is neutral: it hides where a connection comes from and where it goes.

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A fair warning. Like the rest of the web, you can stumble across things that may not be legal and may be upsetting.

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We do not host, run or endorse other sites. Know your local laws, use judgment, and leave anything that troubles you.

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If you meet child sexual abuse material, leave at once and report it. This lesson is for readers 18 years of age or older.

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In the lab, pick a travel mode, and select each stop on the path to see what it can learn.

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Then wrap a message in three layers, and pass it from relay to relay.

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Predict: in a Tor circuit, which single relay knows both who you are and which site you asked for?

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In the lab, a message travels from you to a site through a Tor circuit.

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Your provider sees only that you connect to Tor. The entry relay knows you, but not the site.

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The middle relay knows neither. The exit relay knows the site, but not you, and can read traffic that lacks HTTPS.

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The site sees the exit relay’s address, not yours.

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So no single relay knows both who you are and which site you asked for.

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Onion routing, step by step. Your Tor software picks three relays run by volunteers.

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It wraps your request in three layers of encryption, one for each relay.

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Each relay peels one layer and learns only the relay before it and the relay after it.

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The exit relay reaches the site. Onion services work differently: the site hides too, with no exit relay at all.

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Now compare the tools. A VPN is one company relaying your traffic, and you must trust it completely.

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Pay for one you researched, because free ones must earn money somehow. We recommend no provider.

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Tor uses three volunteer relays, so no single relay sees both ends. It is good for anonymous browsing and onion services.

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I2P is a separate network where every user routes traffic through one-way tunnels, with sites called eepsites inside it.

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Why it matters. Freedom of opinion and expression includes the freedom to seek and share information.

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Anonymity and encryption help reporters, sources, activists, researchers and survivors exercise it.

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Mainstream sites such as BBC News, Deutsche Welle, ProPublica and The Guardian also offer onion services.

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PrivacySafe Search and PrivacySafe Bot, run by the Foundation, have onion addresses, and the PrivacySafe.app apps work over Tor and I2P.

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Here is your safe-browsing plan. Eight steps.

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Get Tor Browser from the official Tor Project site, keep it updated, and leave its settings alone.

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Prefer HTTPS and onion addresses from a site’s own page, and do not log in as yourself if you need to stay anonymous.

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If you use a VPN, pay for one you researched. Never download or share material that may not be legal: leave, and report it.

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Know the laws where you live, and use end-to-end encrypted apps for what must stay private.

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Two questions for the room.

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Who needs anonymity most, and what would they lose without it?

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How should a society handle the harms that private networks can also enable?

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That is the lesson: private networks are neutral tools with real value for free expression.

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Use them lawfully and carefully, with good habits.

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Anonymity is a tool. Use it wisely.