A Guide to Using the Anonymous Web in Libraries and Information Organizations

Enhancing Patron Privacy and Information Access

Brady D. Lund, Matthew A. Beckstrom

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781000566628
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

A Guide to Using the Anonymous Web in Libraries and Information Organizations provides practical guidance to those who are interested in integrating the anonymous web into their services. It will be particularly useful to those seeking to promote enhanced privacy for their patrons.

The book begins by explaining, in simple terms, what the anonymous web is, how it works, and its benefits for users. Lund and Beckstrom also explain why they believe access to the anonymous web should be provided in library and information organizations around the world. They describe how to provide access, as well as educate library users on how to utilize the anonymous web and navigate any challenges that might arise during implementation. The authors also encourage the development of library policies that guide appropriate conduct and filter content, where appropriate, in order to deter illegal activity.

A Guide to Using the Anonymous Web in Libraries and Information Organizations reminds us that libraries and other information providers have a duty to educate and support their communities, while also preserving privacy. Demonstrating that the anonymous web can help them to fulfil these obligations, this book will be essential reading for library and information professionals working around the world.

1History of the Internet and Introduction to the Anonymous Web

DOI: 10.4324/​9781003093732-2

As libraries become increasingly system-oriented in their resources and services, an assurance of privacy is requisite. Yet, this is an assurance that most libraries cannot honestly offer. Even though privacy is a core value of librarianship (American Library Association, 2019), many libraries are lacking in this area. A huge part of this challenge is due to the ambiguity about what “privacy” really means, how individuals’ privacy is lost, and what strategies should be taken to defend it. Society already asks librarians to know so much about so many different things, and intimate knowledge of computer security and information systems concepts and theory is often complex enough to comprise entire masters-level programs.

Another issue is the complexity of systems available to libraries. Most of the time, libraries and librarians are trying to “keep up” with the latest trends or new services that are offered. Library users come into the library without thinking about privacy, they just want to get the latest best seller or access the Internet (Kim and Noh, 2014). It has become the role and, in some cases, the duty of libraries to protect their users’ privacy (Witt, 2017). Virtually every state in the United States, most provinces in Canada, and many nations and municipalities in Europe have some kind of law that dictates how privacy should be treated within libraries, with each law/policy being somewhat distinct (Ayala, 2018; American Library Association, 2021).

What we offer in this book, then, is not a comprehensive guide to all facets of information privacy (as established, that seems like too much to fit in one book and too much to ask of a busy professional to digest in any meaningful way to their professional duties). Instead, we highlight one class of technologies that, while not a “cure all” by any means, is relatively simple to implement and use – it does not require any programming knowledge to install or utilize – and provides a level of security that should leave most users confident in the privacy of their web data.

What Is the Anonymous Web (From 30,000 Feet)?

The most prominent visual aid used to describe the relationship of the surface, deep, and dark web is the iceberg analogy (Beckstrom and Lund, 2019). In this analogy, as shown in Figure 1.1, one is asked to envision an iceberg floating in the ocean, where only about 10% of the iceberg is visible above water while the remaining 90% is hidden below the water’s surface (but is nonetheless fundamental to the stabilization of the entire structure). Similarly, only about 10% of content on Internet networks is freely available to anyone who wishes to access it. The remaining 90% of the content is part of the deep web. The term “deep” or “hidden” web comes from the iceberg terminology above. It is the content that is not visible “to the naked eye,” but is nonetheless crucial to the operation of the Internet.

Figure 1.1 Iceberg Analogy for the Relationship among Surface, Deep, and Dark Web

Specifically, the deep web consists of the content that a user must have some special authorization or software to access. This does not (necessarily) mean content that you need some government clearance to access; the deep web includes all content that is password protected (He et al., 2007). Your Facebook account, Netflix videos, and library system content are all part of the deep web. Think back to our iceberg – you can readily access the part of the iceberg above the water, but you would need to have some sort of additional equipment to get to the part of the iceberg under the water. For example, you would need a snorkel or a diving suit. With the deep web, you would use simple tools like passwords or special software. It is not nearly as ominous as the term “deep web” makes it seem. Nonetheless, the deep web is incredibly important. Imagine if there was no way to hide content – if everything you put on there was freely available to everyone and could be modified by anyone. Companies would lose profit motive to produce new content, users would not feel that their content is secure. It would be a virtual free-for-all, with a lack of accountability for users. It would not be the web we know today. So, while the deep web is not as complex and ominous as you might have hoped, it is nonetheless absolutely critical that it exist as a part of our regular Internet access, and that we understand how it is accessed.

So, what is the anonymous web? The anonymous web is a subset of deep web content that is available only by connecting to a special network that lies over or around the “normal” Internet. The anonymous web is essentially a hitchhiker that uses the Internet’s infrastructure but adds extra layers of encryption that require special software in order to access content. This “special software” is generally a web browser designed to support an anonymous web platform. The Onion Router (Tor), the most popular anonymous web platform, uses a modified version of the Firefox browser. Looking at our iceberg once again, think of the anonymous web an integrated (internal) part of the ice. It is there, but you cannot see it unless you are able to “tunnel” into the ice and get to it. Anonymous web software was originally developed by the U.S. military as a means for secure communications between whistleblowers, various foreign agencies, and military officials from around the globe (Syverson, Goldschlag, and Reed, 1997). The anonymous web provides advanced privacy and security to users (why we believe it is important as the topic of this book).

The enhanced privacy/security of the anonymous web is also what has led to its scrutiny by researchers and law enforcement (Chen, 2011). Because the anonymous web severely limits the ability to track or identify users, it is susceptible to use for criminal exchanges of information, weapons, drugs, etc. However, we would argue that misuse by a relatively small proportion of users should not warrant shutting down the platform. The use of the anonymous web for legal and important reasons outweighs the illegal use concerns. This does not just include the average library user browsing the Internet but journalists abroad, freedom fighters, whistleblowers, etc. When the Internet originally became publicly available, it was also a breeding ground for illegal activity. That may be perceived as an ad hominem attack against Internet users who reject the anonymous web, but it is really intended to suggest that some aspects of the anonymous web are problematic, as presently constituted, but have considerable potential for being adopted for legitimate uses. This does require people to be willing to use the platform – to trust us when we say there are no risks to using the anonymous web as long as you do so lawfully (just like this is not problem in using a car or the Internet if you do so legally).

Is It Legal to Use the Anonymous Web?

For most Internet users, it is legal to access the anonymous web, so long as you are not engaging in illegal activities. This is particularly true for readers in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, where few, if any, restrictions exist. However, a few jurisdictions may have different rules – particularly nations that are not quite friendly to individual information privacy. Chapter 4 of this book will dig deep, country-by-country, into policies regarding the use of the anonymous web.

Why “Anonymous Web”

To demonstrate why we selected the term “Anonymous Web” for the focus of this book, and also set out a topic map for what we will be discussing throughout this book, we performed a word frequency analysis of titles and keywords for “dark web,” “Tor,” and “anonymous web,” three terms commonly used to describe the central topic that this book will cover. Table 1.1 provides a comparison of the ten most frequency substantive terms (not “a,” “an,” and “the”) in article titles by search term, while Table 1.2 does the same for article keywords.

Table 1.1 Term frequencies in article titles for each search term

“Dark Web”	Freq.	“Tor”	Freq.	“Anonymous Web”	Freq.
Web	16	Tor	20	Anonymous	11
Dark	16	Network	5	Web	7
Narcotics	3	Browsing	3	Internet	5
Deep	3	Onion	3	Anonymity	4
Laundering	2	Anonymity	3	Privacy	3
Trafficking	2	Pi	2	Free	2
Million	2	Privacy	2	Browsing	2
Darknet	2	Routing	2	Preserving	2
Study	2	OnionDNS	2	Networks	2
Hacker	2	Classification	2	Probabilities	2

Table 1.2 Term frequencies in article keywords for each search term

“Dark Web”	Freq.	“Tor”	Freq.	“Anonymous Web”	Freq.
Darknets	7	Data encryption	5	Anonymity	6
Cybercriminals	5	Open-source software	3	Privacy	5
Computer crimes	4	Routing	3	Internet	4
Money laundering	4	Anonymity	3	Websites	3
Invisible web	3	Censorship	3	Computer security	3
Terrorism	3	Computer networks	3	Web browsing	2
Web search engines	2	Network routing protocols	2	Tor	2
Internet ethics	2	Browsers	2	Internet security	2
Silk road	2	Http	2	Computer network resources	2
Cryptomarkets	2	Privacy	2	Access to information	2

Based on this table, it should be evident why we would want to avoid the term “dark web” – it has simply become too intertwined with illegal activity, while our goal with this book is to do the very opposite of encouraging illegal activities. When readers see “dark web,” they expect stories of criminal escapades and are disappointed if that’s not what they get. Starting out the name of a tool with the word dark immediately puts the thought into negative. Starting a tool with the word anonymous has a different effect. It implies privacy and security. As one of the Amazon reviewers of our 2019 book, Casting Light on the Dark Web, opined, “if you are planning on doing something illegal using the dark web and hope not to get caught, this book is probably insufficient.” Of course, helping people conduct illegal activity without getting caught was not the goal with t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: The Anonymous Web and Libraries
• 1 History of the Internet and Introduction to the Anonymous Web
• 2 What Is the Anonymous Web?
• 3 History of Internet Privacy and Libraries
• 4 Tor around the World
• 5 Integrating the Anonymous Web in Libraries and Information Organizations
• 6 Anonymous Web Education
• 7 A Role for Library and Information Science Researchers in Anonymous Web Research
• 8 Case Examples of Anonymous Web Adoption in Information Organizations
• 9 Conclusion: What Have We Learned? What Can We Do?
• The Big Glossary of the Anonymous Web and Related Topics
• Major Websites on the Anonymous Web
• Index