Is there another internet?

[Fantasyfumble]

Some weirdo I met on a dating site claimed he used a different internet to what everyone else uses

Kinda paranoid he may have been able to snoop on me snooping on him . Googling potential dates is normal right?! I thought everyone did it and just didn't admit it

But why would he say that? Could he have been?

Someone who actually worked in anything vaguely exciting / in a spooks type of job would never present themselves as paranoid and obsessive.

Actually, just think how annoying recruitment must be in that sector. So many paranoid self aggrandising weirdos to screen out!

Anyway, he sounds really disturbing for a randomer you had a date with. Glad you've started seeing someone else and this guy has been firmly relegated to the dustbin :)

Dark Web he is on about

You need to use torrents to access it . I have never accessed it nor wish too

I didn't think I had a stalker vibe but maybe I did

I think he is the one with the stalker vibe. I wouldn't find this fascinating, I would stay away.

Criminals and pedophiles use cars so only bad un use it errr nope. A lot of people in china use it as its one of the only ways they can get around state sensorship its a tool yes criminals use it but its simply a tool not something wrong or criminal about per say even if it makes some criminal activity easier.

From reading this thread, I don't think he was the paranoid one.

Yes. Very long standing friend works dealing with certain national security issues ( not UK) and consequently has to spend time on dark web. Occasionally he stumbles across some very sickening stuff whilst in process of trying to track down something else.

This thread is making me all twitchy.

LuLuuuuuuu - are you high / repeating random words / taking the piss out of the OP?

silkpyjamasallday

It is only websites. That's all it is. No different to the internet you vaguely understand except it takes a little more knowhow to access it. "not date anyone who used it"? Jesus wept.

You liken going to unindexed websites as using prostitutes?

Have you ever used internet banking? I assume that you have. This is the deep or dark web (the two terms are synonymous for our purposes). Honestly, it's worrying that some posters have access to the internet and (based on the premise of MN) are responsible for educating their children as to how to safely use technology.

i heard you can buy non-organic muesli.

steer well clear.

I forgot to add a couple of screenshots of me 'on the dark web'.

I'm not sure exactly what you think it is listsandbudgets but your friend who has to spend time on it may simply be looking at coding forums, thinking about taking an evening class or killing time on facebook (notice the URL in the screenshot I posted)!

The dark web is not what you think it is.

You download Tor the same as any other browser. Tor isn't illegal in itself. If you want to find something sinister, Tor can access it and hide you but you have to actually go looking. You don't just open it and there's a whole new internet complete with titled tabs for child porn, drugs and hired hitmen. You can find all those things and worse but it's just a deeper, better hidden level of the normal internet. I have used Tor myself when I've wanted to remain hidden and it wasn't for anything immoral or illegal. Saying anyone who uses the deep web is a criminal or paedo grossly stereotyping.

Sounds like he was just a bit of a knob and showing off tbh. Best avoided.

I think those laughing at the ignorance of most of us on this thread is horrible. So most of us don't know anything about it. Imo that's a good thing. The more well known it is, the more our children are likely to access it.

Why would people want to remain hidden unless it is for nefarious purposes? Genuine question.

whines, even if they did downlaod Tor, unless they actively search for illiegal sites, they won't see anything different to what they would see using Google Chrome, its not just all sitting there the minute you log in! It is just like using chrome or firefox, nothing sinister about it in iteself. Finding the dodgy stuff requires digging.

Definitely think of the children!

Good grief. Does anyone want to buy a tinfoil hat?

To answer your question, to avoid cookies and spam forever more after visiting a site, to avoid say an ex due to fleeing from DV, if you live in a censored country where social media is banned...

To clarify and reiterate: not in the slightest concerned about or interested in the guy.

Very curious as to wtf he was doing - if he used "a different internet" and how you could tell if someone was checking if you were online on WhatsApp

Joking regarding wishing he was a spy lol

Really? If you don't know about the dark web your children won't access it? Um, wouldn't it be better to know a bit about it in case they do rather than sticking your head in the sand? It's not that difficult or scary a concept if you ignore all the shock sites, clickbait and scaremongering.

Here is an informative video for example which explains what it is:

The dark web is mostly like the internet circa 1995. No search engines, slow to load, many text-based sites and crappy formatting. You get where you want to go by knowing the website address exactly, and if you type it wrong, it doesn't work.

He sounds a right weirdo steer well clear of him I can only assume by another internet he means either the deep web or the dark web neither of which your regular joe blogs can find they are hard to find. I would avoid him like the plauge.

Whinesalot

"I think those laughing at the ignorance of most of us on this thread is horrible."

Was that directed at me? I've never laughed at ignorance. I do laugh when people pretend to know what they're talking about. At best it makes them look stupid at and worse causes real harm.

"The more well known it is, the more our children are likely to access it."

What? Access what? It is websites. Just websites. IT IS WEBSITES!!!!!

They might be accessing facebook or the news or a forum about knitting or laughing at pictures of cats or anything the rest of us do online.

You might not know how to cook meth but your ignorance doesn't keep your children safe.

I've been thinking about how best to explain the dark web: it's basically the internet you know but without google. That's all it is. If you wanted to read this then instead of finding the site, someone would have to tell you m u m s n e t [dot] c o m [forward slash] t a l k [forward slash] am [underscore] etc. That's all it is. With the anonymity comes the potential to do bad stuff but whilst warfarin kept my son alive, it also kills rats. It's a chemical. We shouldn't be afraid of it, we should understand it and use it morally and / or legally.

Is warfarin a bad comparison? Maybe. Don't be afraid of stuff you don't understand though.

So how do people know which sites to access for all this really horrible stuff then?

And has mumsnet hidden this thread for everyone or did I just do it myself by accident. I had to unhide it.

probably got his photos from another profile; have you done Google image search?
And a lot of them say they are 'in security'.
they aren't 'in' anything. They choose that because its sounds manly
-controlling-

Also what a twat he is

Why would people want to remain hidden unless it is for nefarious purposes? Genuine question.

Quite simply: because some people feel it's no one else's business what they do online. And because ISPs holding records of your browsing history is potentially a massive data protection issue (search the Snooper's Charter).

I don't search anything illegal, none the less, I wouldn't want (say as an example) any mental health problems I have to become known to the Police and other authorities because of the websites I visit. This is what the law now allows for: people in relatively ordinary jobs (DWP, HMRC etc) being able to access your browsing history under certain circumstances. This is why people use VPNs and TOR etc and I don't blame them.

The Chinese used the Snooper's Charter to defend their own surveillance techniques. When China is using us as an example, you know something's wrong.

Why would people want to remain hidden unless it is for nefarious purposes? Genuine question.

Have you ever had a look to see what Google knows about you? Ever searched for something while you had Facebook open in a different tab and then find FB advertising similar products at you? Ever been quite rightly worried about the government wanting a 'back door' into encryptions, which would include your online banking for example? Or that they're set to be keeping tabs on who views 'adult content' from April next year?

I've never been anywhere near Tor but I find it quite comforting to know I could.