Dark web …whoa pretty mysterious name huh ? Before I start answering the above question have you ever thought …why do we need dark web in the first place ? what even is dark web ? do the surface browsers we commonly use like Google Chrome , Firefox do not provide with all the information we need ,that we actually need dark web to access it ?

Dark web may or may not be as dark as it sounds , but is surely mysterious , that is because not only is an undercover browser but it also keeps your identity a secret too . Sounds pretty shady right ? Lets look further into It .

I think you may have gotten idea about what is dark web and where this article would be headed ,now talking about the technicalities , the dark web is a collection of thousands and thousands of websites that use anonymity tools like Tor and I2P to hide their IP addresses. And the best part about dark web is that it not only provides information that is not available on Surface Web but also safe search by keeping the identity of websites unknown. It also yields a decentralized network of internet sites that try to make users as anonymous as possible by routing all their communications through multiple servers and encrypting it at every step .Consider dark web as the hidden or secret passage of your home , it is hidden , it is safe and it is used when you want to be anonymous or don’t want anybody else to know you have used it . It takes you to similar paths , shows you through the end of the tunnel and may have some discrete information or places on the way but just more securely when you are not able to use the main entrance of your home. Now, what makes us question the legality of dark web ,that is if it abides by the law or not . we are pretty aware of the reputation that dark web holds, illegal business and activities , unsafe sites and drug dealing, child pornography , buying and selling of unauthorised weapons etc , now however illegitimate marketing is done their ,he most ironic part is that it protects it users by keeping their identity safe , it hides the IP addresses and provides full anonymity to the dealers and clientele. Many reports by BITCOIN suggest that numerous drug dealing activities were caught and banned and the culprit responsible was punished too . Recent report also suggested that cryptocurrency got prohibited in india a few months back because of how unsafe trafficking took place of drugs and humans , although now the supreme court has lifted the ban .

Hence what I feel is that Dark Web is a double-edged sword as it has its good and bad sides both. Therefore coming to the conclusion that simply surfing on the Dark web is not illegal, unless illegal content is accessed. The basic idea about this is the maintenance of anonymity i.e. it protects a user’s identity and masking IP addresses, which in turn makes the location unknowable. It is used for legitimate as well as criminal purposes. It is used by whistle-blowers, privacy minded citizens as well as by terrorists, hackers, paedophiles, drug traffickers. It is used for maintaining privacy, selling illegal goods, selling fake passports and IDs, for getting assassinations done, finding hackers, viewing child pornography. It is the criminal side of it, for is of concern to law enforcement agencies and public policy makers.

It is not illegal to access Dark Web from India because TOR hides the IP address and location of the user. Since the location being hidden, it is not possible to know from which country a user is accessing the Dark Web, so the question of the legality of access in India will not arise. Like all things Dark Web has its advantages and disadvantages, its use just depends on the user.

– Palak Gupta