What is the deep web? Later on, we’ll discuss common myths and misconceptions surrounding the parts of the internet that are hidden out of plain sight. But if you think that you need to be an NCIS-style hacker to use the deep web, think again.

A Deep Web Background Search

If you want detailed information on an individual, a deep web search is the first place you should look. TruthFinder has recently unveiled its deep web search engine. So how does it work?

All you need to do is enter a name to begin, and TruthFinder will activate a search which will scour through millions of public records.

In a matter of minutes, TruthFinder will deliver a comprehensive report featuring key details on a person. Some of the information may include:

Names, Aliases, And Birthday

Want to know if somebody goes by a different name? Do you want to know their real age? TruthFinder has you covered.

Possible Photographs

If you’re searching for somebody that you’ve never met or checking out an old friend, “Possible Photos” could provide you with a recent snapshot.

Possible Relatives

Who are they related to? Are they hiding a secret spouse? Search yourself and find out if you have any long-lost relatives!

Addresses And Contact Information

Want to get in touch? Find out where a person lives and discover phone numbers or email addresses. With a TruthFinder background search, you can choose the contact method that feels right for you.

Criminal Records

Here’s where a background check gets super interesting! A deep web search can reveal information previously only available through the county court system, like criminal records and arrest history.

Social Media Profiles

Some profiles, like a LinkedIn or Facebook account, are relatively easy to find — as long as the person you’re looking for has a unique name and mutual friends. But others, like Amazon wish lists, dating profiles, and social media profiles created under an alias, are harder to track down. TruthFinder puts them all together in one convenient place.

Start your first search by entering any name below!

That’s just a snippet of what a deep web search can offer. Keep reading to learn more about the mysterious nature of the deep web!

Enter The Deep Web

When you hear the words "Deep Web," what comes to mind? A dark basement of hackers hunched over computers, gathering intel on their next victims? Perhaps a secret digital alley for the world's worst criminals to sell their wares? If you imagine the Deep Web to look like a scene from The Ring, you've been seduced by one of the Internet's most alluring urban legends.

The term "Deep Web" was coined almost 15 years ago. Since then, it's been transformed by bloggers, journalists, and entertainers who depict it as an online haven for hardened criminals and sadistic killers.

While the Deep Web does exist, it's not what you think. That's why TruthFinder did an exclusive interview with Chris Monteiro, a digital rights activist and technology researcher from the UK, who wants to debunk the misconceptions people have about the term. However, before we can clear up our confusion about the Deep Web, we have to find out where the term originated. Here's a timeline of how the Deep Web came to be the stuff of legends.

2001:

The year the term "Deep Web" is coined by Michael Bergman, founder of Bright Planet, a search indexing specialist company. He compares a standard Internet search to "dragging a net across the surface of the ocean." The content that gets caught in the net is what shows up in search engine results. (He labels this "surface web" content.)

But there's a lot more information that is too deep to get caught. The content below the reach of the net (i.e. search engine) is what Bergman refers to as the "deep Web."

2009:

The Guardian's Andy Beckett publishes an article about the "dark side of the Internet." It introduces Freenet, an online network that's also a part of the Deep Web. Beckett's article is a hit. It gets reblogged, re-analyzed, and repurposed for years. However, the article misses the mark. It fails to differentiate the "Deep Web" (as Bergman described it) from another legend in the making: the Dark Web.

2011:

As word spreads about the cryptic content of the Deep Web, blogs and forums start circulating imagery of icebergs. They're designed to show readers just how much of the web goes unexplored by the average Internet user.

Not surprisingly, these images fail to clarify anything. Readers are left wondering how icebergs relate to the Internet — and how any designer could be so inept at Photoshop.

2012:

The metaphors get worse! Another popular graphic gets widely circulated which plays off the nine levels of Hell from Dante’s Inferno. Apparently, the Deep Web has five. The deepest level, the "Marianas web," is named after the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean.

"I hear people on forums go, 'Where can I find the Marianas web? I hear that's the darkest part of where the Internet is.' It's genuinely made up! But people believe this," Monteiro said.

Even major researchers run with another depiction of the Internet as an aquatic ecosystem of submarines, torpedoes, deep-sea fish, and dinosaur ruins. Understandably, readers have more questions than answers. (Like, what are 'continental contents'? Is Wikipedia actually an oil rig? Why is Amazon scared of the water?) This graphic is just absurd!

2013:

Silk Road, a Deep Web ‘darknet market,’ gets shut down by the FBI. News outlets have a field day. Case in point, this Daily Mail post about "The disturbing world of the Deep Web, where contract killers and drug dealers ply their trade on the internet." In this post, the "Deep Web" is mistakenly referred to as the "Dark Web."

2014:

Pop culture chimes in. In House of Cards Season 2, reporter Lucas Goodwin wants to dig up proof of Frank Underwood's scandalous misdeeds. Goodwin's friend tells him about the secure and encrypted Deep Web, a mysterious place that's supposedly 96 percent of the Internet. (This stat is completely misleading.)

Even big-time publications can't keep their facts straight. A Forbes article erroneously describes Bright Planet as "a firm that harvests data from the Dark Web." (They should have said Deep Web). In response, Bright Planet publishes a post to clarify the differences between the two terms.

2015:

Old habits die hard. Just this year, two Business Insider posts also mix up the two terms.

So, as of now, the Deep Web is mistakenly viewed as a "catch-all monster for all that is illegal and dangerous on the Internet," Monteiro said.

Today's Version Of The Deep Web

If the Deep Web isn't what we think, then what is it? And how is it different from the Dark Web? Here's what these terms mean today.

The Deep Web:

Information in databases that aren't publicly indexable. Google or any other standard search engine can't or won't crawl these web pages, which means they won't show up in search results.

Other terms for the Deep Web: Deep Net, Hidden Web, Invisible web

The Dark Web:

A very tiny portion of the Deep Web. Dark Web content is hidden from search engines. It's only accessible with special browser or software configurations. (The most commonly used browser is called Tor.)

Related terms for the Dark Web: Darknet, a network that hosts Dark Web content

Debunking The Urban Legends

Now that we've got our facts straight, let's bust some myths.

Myth #1: The Dark Web is only for underground criminals.

Sure, you can find sites that sell illegal drugs and counterfeit money on the dark web. But the Dark Web is also used by privacy activists and ordinary people who don't want their online activity tracked by government agencies or commercial data aggregators. In fact, according to the Tor Project, a branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor and the dark web for open-source intelligence gathering; law enforcement uses it for security during sting operations.

Myth #2: You can't get to the Dark Web from a Google search.

"There used to be a point where everything on the Dark Web was Deep Web," said Monteiro. "There was no way of getting onto these sites unless you installed Tor. It was completely inaccessible to Google and your everyday Joe."

But things have changed. Now, search engines are much better at crawling sites that were once considered "Deep Web." In fact, some Deep Web content is absent from search results because Google avoids crawling it. As you might guess, Google doesn't want to be liable for indexing sites that sell illegal drugs or other contraband. (Google will, however, index various ‘Tor2Web’ services that allow direct access to the Dark Web.)

Myth #3: The Deep Web is 96% of the Internet.

This percentage refers to an estimation of the size of the Deep Web. However, search engines continue to improve at crawling web pages that used to be considered Deep Web content. So this statistic will permanently be in a state of flux.

Myth #4: Deep Web search is the same thing as the Dark Web.

Forbes, Business Insider, and Daily Mail have confused the terms. So we don't blame you for getting it wrong either. But don't be fooled! Deep Web search terminology has almost nothing to do with content on the so-called Dark Web.

Myth #5: You'll never use the Deep Web.

On the contrary, you probably use it every day. When you want to pay your credit card bill, you log into your online bank account. Your account information is considered Deep Web content because Google won't index it. Why? For your security. You wouldn't want your banking information to show up on a search results page. Your bank requires you to log in to keep hackers out, and to keep search engines from crawling its sensitive content.

Now, pretend you want to book a trip to Hawaii. To get the best deal, you compare flights on travel booking sites like Expedia and Travelocity.

Or, let's say you want to find out if your friends are hiding secrets from their past. To pull up criminal records they might have, you search their names on TruthFinder.

Expedia, Travelocity, and TruthFinder are examples of what Monteiro calls "specialized Deep Web search engines,” or “vertical search engines." They deal with very specific niches, like flight deals and public records online. You can browse their database content when you log in to your account, or when you do a search directly from their site. But you can't find their database content in a Google search. (If you could, think how many online businesses would be obsolete!)

Setting Things Straight

Here's the takeaway from the most intriguing myth of Internet lore: Deep Web search isn't the same thing as the Dark Web. And the Dark Web isn't just for distributing illegal drugs and child porn. These terms have been so jumbled in the past decade, we have to expect that they'll continue to be misused and misunderstood.

Even Monteiro has accepted that reality. Besides, if everyone used these terms correctly, he would have to find a new hobby.

"It's a nice bit of Internet culture, even if it is confusing sometimes," said Monteiro.

Do you have questions about the Deep Web? Let us know in the comments!

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