What is Deep Web?
The deep web is just like it sounds — below the surface and not completely dark.
The Deep Web refers to any website that cannot be readily accessed through any conventional search engine such as Google or Yahoo! Search The reason for this is because the content has not been indexed by the search engine in question.
In layman’s terms, the Deep Web is just another ‘level’ of the internet. Residing below the “surface,” it is the deepest level of the internet.
For instance, if you wanted to search a public library catalog to find a book, you couldn’t type the title into your browser’s search bar and expect Google to return a meaningful result for your library. That level of information would be located in the deep web.
The reason search engines can’t return this data to you is because there are no links. (Search engines crawl the internet by visiting one web page, then the links on that page, and then the links on subsequent pages.)
Instead, you would have to go to the public library’s website and use a search bar inside the website to locate this data on the library’s servers.
This kind of information is all over the internet. Almost every time you search internally on a website, you’re accessing deep web content.
Inside The Deep Web
The Deep Web refers to any website that cannot be readily accessed through any conventional search engine such as Google or Yahoo! Search The reason for this is because the content has not been indexed by the search engine in question.
In layman’s terms, the Deep Web is just another ‘level’ of the internet. Residing below the “surface,” it is the deepest level of the internet.
Here are a few examples of what’s on the deep web:
- The content of your personal email accounts
- The content of your social media accounts
- The content of your online banking accounts
- Data that companies store on their private databases
- Content contained within scientific and academic databases
- Medical records
- Legal documents
A lot of what exists on the deep web consists of information that you probably wouldn’t want to turn up in a web search — like your checking account information — because it’s private and could be misused.
A rule of thumb: If you have to log in to one of your accounts by providing a user name, password, or some other type of authentication, the information you access is on the deep web.
That’s a good thing. The deep web can help protect your personal information and privacy.
Web Indexing Explained
Indexing is best explained through contemporary search engine Google and its robust, high-performance system of indexing. Google’s indexing methods rely largely on a process referred to as “crawling,” which is akin to a virtual spider crawling amongst the multitude of pages on a website that is readily accessed by clicked links.
A cursory scan is implemented, thus rendering the pages’ content to a format that can be sent to Google’s massive index servers, at which point the data is contextually organized and entered into a collective of algorithms that comprise the search engine.
If a website is not indexec by a search engine, it can only be accessed by navigating directly to the URL via a link or typing in the exact web address in to a web browser.
Who Benefits from the Deep Web?
There is a wide range of people that benefit from the Deep Web’s capability to allow anonymous use and communication. Listed below are individuals or groups who have benefitted from the Deep Web in the past and whom also continue to benefit from its existence today.
- Journalists and Whistleblowers
- Political Protesters, and Anti-Censorship Advocacy Groups
- Residents of Oppressive Political Regimes
Journalists and Whistleblowers
Former military, government, and corporate employees are coming together en masse to report widespread (and largely unknown) corruption within their respective fields. Working in conjunction with investigative reporters, these individuals can communicate top-secret and classified information to the media to expose corruption under a modicum of protection.
Political Protesters, and Anti-Censorship Advocacy Groups
Anonymity is of paramount importance for these figures, who utilize the Dark Web as an application to conduct communication measures safely and privately.
Residents of Oppressive Political Regimes
Citizens living in countries ruled by oppressive regimes often do not have ready access to news, information, and critically important data pertaining to the health and sustainability of society as a collective whole. The Deep Web offers members of society living under oppressive political regimes a relatively safe way to garner crucial information for their own needs, in addition to exporting it out of the country.
Why Do Websites Use The Deep Web?
What the above all have in common is that their information is not intended for public consumption. The owners of the content may go to great lengths to render the information inaccessible by ensuring it doesn’t show up in internet browser search results.
It is worth noting that the Deep Web is not always illegal and there are plenty of activities taking place that are entirely within the context of the law. Activities such as those listed below are commonplace on the Deep Web, with a membership often comprised of in-the-know internet users well-versed in accessing the Deep Web.
- Social Media, Blogging, Text and Voice Chat
- International tournament-style games such as Chess and Backgammon
- Survivalist-type, end-of-world groups
- Book clubs, fan clubs, video game clubs
- Hidden Answers – a popular Deep Web version of Yahoo Answers
- Public records and certificates, library system indexes
- Communicating via encrypted use to ensure privacy and protection
- Karaoke and Singing Competitions
- Conspiracy theorist groups and preferred “home” bases
- Computer and technology skills classes and courses
