The Deep & Dark Web
Tags: webdev, deepweb, beginners, privacy
Published: 2019-04-18 12:30:48

---
title: The Deep & Dark Web
published: true
description: There's a huge difference between the deep web and the dark web. One is a vast ocean of information. The other is like a lake on an island in that ocean. Which one is which?
tags: #webdev, #deepweb, #beginners, #privacy
cover_image: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*WIxCx-7B5JgfHt6VvT1OCA.jpeg
---

The deep web and dark web aren't anything new. Ever since the giant Silk Road bust, the dark web has gotten more and more attention. The thing is, the dark web is only a small part of the deep web. There's so much more to the deep web besides drugs and other shady stuff, but that stuff still hangs around.

## What it's used for

The deep web is made of the un-indexed web pages on the internet. These are the pages that search engines, like Google, can't find. Un-indexed pages don't need to have illegal content to be in the deep web. Most of these un-indexed pages are things like your personal social media accounts or your online banking account. There isn't anything wrong with them, we just don't want everyone to have access to these pages except ourselves.

So you actually use the deep web every day when you log on to any website that has your data. The deep web is where all of your personal information is stored. That's why if you Google your name, your email accounts don't show. Even though the deep web gets a bad reputation because of that minuscule piece of it that makes up the dark web, it's not bad. It's actually pretty boring.

We need the deep web to keep our online data secure. All of our information is in the deep web and we would never want to bring it to the surface level. That's also one of the reasons the dark web exists. People don't want everyone to have access to what they are doing or knowledge of what they are doing or where they are located.

Some people use the dark web as a way to share information in restrictive countries like China. It's also a place where whistleblowers can report the things they have discovered without worrying about being found. And of course, there are the people selling the illegal stuff.

## How to use it

If you're wondering how to post things on the deep web, it's not complicated at all. Remember, the deep web is made of un-indexed web pages. So if you decide to un-list one of your videos on YouTube or you opt to keep your Tumblr blog un-indexed, you just added more content to the deep web. The deep web really can be this innocent.

Getting to websites in the deep web isn't even difficult. If you have the URL for a page that you can't find by searching for it, you have a URL that connects you to the deep web. Any website that isn't indexed is a part of the deep web and they aren't hard to find.

The dark web on the other hand takes more work to access. To start with, you should probably use a [VPN](https://flippedcoding.com/2019/03/14/using-a-vpn/). Then you need to download the [Tor browser](https://www.torproject.org/). After that, you'll need to find some URLs that end in .onion. You might have some luck on Reddit, but you'll definitely need some luck.

Always start the VPN before you open the Tor browser for maximum security. The stuff on the dark web can be harder to find because it has been purposely hidden. The .onion websites are about a 50/50 split between super illegal stuff like hit-mans, guns, and drugs and other stuff like people in incredibly oppressive countries trying to get and share information.

The deep web and dark web aren't exactly the same things. The dark web is just a small section of the deep web and the deep web is mostly private information. Neither of them are as mysterious as they sound because at the end of the day, they are all still websites.

What's so important about the deep web and dark web is that you can share information with the lowest possibility being tracked. You would be surprised by how many government secrets have been leaked across the deep web *and* the dark web. But most of the time, researchers would just like to be able to access the un-indexed information that the deep web holds.

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