Dark Web, Clear Web

What's the Difference?

image by Michael Podger, designer, West Yorkshire "Dew on a Web"

Clear Web

The "Clear Web" is the experience you are enjoying now. Searchable using common search engines, sites here are reliable and get millions of hits over time.

Privacy? Forget it. Your IP address is often tracked by advertisers and others eager to see your preferences and sell merchandise or opinion.

Optionally, "Private" versions of popular browsers limit this activity by deleting information between browser sessions, but while you are live online browser plugins such as Flash, RealPlayer, Quicktime and others can be manipulated into revealing your IP address.

Dark Web (aka "DarkNet")

Anonymity is the whole point of the Dark Web. Providing you do not install plugins or addons, the Tor browser that you will be using to navigate the Dark Web bounces your activity all over the web so that your original IP address is untraceable.

As of May 2019, older versions of Tor (5.5.5 etc.) are available for your 32 bit Windows machine, but they have security holes and should be used with caution. On my 32 bit machine, I started out with 5.5.5 and successfully allowed the software to upgrade itself to the current version. File Hippo's link allows you to find a version that works for you.

By the way, Tor  warns against maximizing your Tor browser screen size. At the maximum, websites can determine your monitor size and use that to track your movements. Tor's default window should be adequate for most purposes. 

Compared to your old familiar Clear Web, you will find few users on the Dark Web. Sites on the Dark Web come and go. Other users will be as anonymous and difficult to track as you are.

The Dark Web has many legitimate users but is also used to sell stolen goods. Political resistance movements often seek the protection of the Dark Web's anonymity.

Further reading:

Demystifying the Dark Web
(Darkreading)

While it may be the most famous, Tor isn't the only network used to browse the Dark Web. The Invisible Internet Project (I2P), an anonymous peer-to-peer network, and Freenet are other less-common examples....

Organized criminals operating in Dark Web marketplaces are forced to change their tactics if their infrastructure is shut down. The trend, he says, is to move toward chat services like Discord, Telegram, and WeChat. Criminals who already have established relationships with one another don't need the Dark Web to work.

The Truth About the Dark Web
(Terbium Labs)

We hate to break it to you: the dark web is mostly legal.
Legal content comprises 53.4% of all domains and 54.5% of all
URLs in our sample.

Wikipedia's list of onion (hidden) services

This is a categorized list of notable onion services (formerly, hidden services) accessible through the Tor anonymity network. Defunct services are marked.

Scroll down Real-World Onion Sites (GitHub.com) to find "Securedrop" for  organizations. You can leave anonymous tips for news media there and attach documents.