Web users regularly go Dark in 2019

US survey finds Respondents cited anonymity as biggest draw in using the Dark Web
Life

7 January 2020

North Americans use the Dark Web more than any other region globally, according to research from PreciseSecurity.com. The survey found that more than 30% of its population accessed that part of the internet regularly in 2019. Statistics indicate that 26% of North Americans used the Dark Web daily, while another 7% visited it at least weekly.

The study revealed that the number of those accessing the Dark Web has increased as users seek to hide their online activity. After North Americans, Latin Americans were the most active on the Dark Web; last year, 21% visited the it daily and 13% accessed it weekly.

Europe came in third place, as 17% of reported using the Dark Web daily and 11% checked in at least once a week.

According to PreciseSecurity.com: “The Dark Web represents a network of untraceable online activity and websites on the Internet that cannot be found using search engines. Accessing them depends upon specific software, configurations, or authorisation.”

PreciseSecurity.com found that anonymity (40%) was the main reason why users turned to Tor and the Dark Web last year. Another 26% said they used it to access content not available in their region. Other commonly cited reasons were overcoming governmental censorship and protecting online privacy.

It further revealed that knowledge was a significant barrier to the Dark Web. Indeed, near 50% of respondents stated they did not access the Dark Web as they did not know how to. Another 45% said they abstained as they had no reason to use it.

The survey also highlighted that 10% of respondents consider technologies such as Tor unreliable. However, just 13% were concerned about the perception that the Dark Web is used by criminals.

A survey by 2019 DataSolutions found that in Ireland, 22% of Gen Z workers have accessed the Dark Web from work.

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