Is it illegal to access the deep web or the dark web?
No it is not a criminal offence to simply access the deep web or the dark web. You cannot be charged with a criminal offence for simply searching the deep or dark web.
What is the deep web?
There’s two parts to the Internet. There’s a part that search engines, like Google, access because it has been indexed for browsing.
And then there is everything else, which is referred to as the deep web.
Google only searches 0.004 per cent of the entire Internet. Everything else that has not been indexed is considered the deep web.
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The dark web refers to is a smaller portion of the deep web. It is only accessible with special software like the Tor browser.
The dark web may have valuable information, however it is notoriously used for nefarious and illegal purposes.
Many websites that operate within the dark web house illegal drug trafficking, human trafficking, child pornography, theft, and more.
It is advisable to be cautious of any link that you choose to click because some can be deceptive.
Avoid any and all links that advertise any of the above or any illegal, disturbing, or harmful content you don’t wish to see.
While there are many websites that exist within the dark web that provide illegal products or services, generally the deep web and dark web are not illegal.
Do the police monitor the dark web?
While police forces do currently monitor and access the dark web to try and control illegal activity there is no adequate software that can currently do this.
The Canadian Federal police are currently developing a software that will be able to detect and monitor the dark web for the illegal activity.
It is likely that once this software is developed that individuals partaking in illegal activity on the dark web will, will growing frequency, be charged with criminal offences.
The Canadian Safety and Security Program CSSP has given the funds for the development of the deep web crawler.
The federal government has authorized the two tech firms and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to develop this software.
The government stated that RCMP will lead a project to develop and implement the web explorer as to examine anonymous and dark areas of Internet also to identify the content related to law communities and national security.
According to the federal government, the main purpose of the software is to detect and trace criminal behaviour on the dark web. The main intention of the software is to prevent the child pornography, to stop the spread of dark web marketplaces and to limit the sites offering human trafficking.
As well, law enforcement could use this software to find the hidden hackers websites and communities that are providing the hacking services. This software has full authorities and permissions to research all the sections of the Internet.
If you have been charged with a criminal offence in relation to activity of on the dark web, or any other criminal offence, please contact Kostman and Pyzer, Barristers today for a free consolation!
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