What is the Internet, the Deep Web and the Dark Web?
I came across an article that,
you will need an ID or a passport to access the internet, then it hit me, probably this guy is talking about "the Internet" and "the Deep web" but has never heard about "The Dark web". So before i continue with the flaws of using IDs and passports to track internet users, let me break down these terms.
The Internet
This is the easiest of them all. At this level, the website can be indexed by all leading search engines. In this level, you don't need a magician to track user activities.
The Deep Web
Most websites that sit on this level of security cannot be indexed by leading search engines. They may have a simple meta-tag on the website header or a rule set in .htaccess file restricting search engines from indexing them. Websites in this level can only be accessed by typing the full url on the web browser. Tracking user activities on this level is easier as it's almost similar to the internet.
The Dark Web
This refers to a collection of websites that are publicly visible, but hide the IP addresses of the servers that run them. The sites can be visited by any Tom,Dick and Harry but you can never tell who is behind the website. The Dark web sits on top of additional sub-networks, such as Tor, I2P, and Freenet and are associated with criminal activities such as buying and selling of drugs, pornography, gambling and hacking.
Not only criminal activities are usually conducted in the dark web, but it's also used by individuals who want to transfer information securely without being traced.
Back to my story. Leading world economies don't use IDs and passports to track online user activities. They form dedicated cybercrime units where they employ hackers and online security specialists to deal with all kind of illegal activities online. Even leading tech companies employ hackers to help them improve security of their systems. But again, it's not that easy to deal with the Dark web, not even the system logs by Internet Service Providers can track the Dark web
Hackers don't really need to reside in the target country to carry out their activities, they can carry out their activities from any country in the world without being traced.
So for someone to suggest using IDs and Passports to track online activities is not only laughable but will also lead to identity theft of innocent Kenyans.