Many people associate the dark web with shady and even criminal activities. Although this is only a part of the ‘dark side’ of the internet, you wouldn’t necessarily want your personal data on it. Google will soon allow you to check for free whether your information has ended up on the dark web.
For many people, the dark web is the ‘dark side’ of the internet that they prefer to avoid. There, various illegal services can be purchased: from forbidden substances to counterfeit documents to contract killers.
But what if your own data ends up on the dark web? With a free tool from Google, everyone will soon be able to check if sensitive information can be found on the dark web.
But criminal activities also thrive in the encrypted corners of the dark web. Inexperienced users can easily pick up malware or even commit offenses when consuming illegal content. More information can be found at the BSI, the Federal Office for Information Security.
The expanded dark web report will be accessible to everyone
What kind of tool is this? Google’s dark web report informs users whether information such as their name, address, or contact details are circulating on the dark web. Until now, the service was reserved for users of the paid subscription Google One.
By the end of July, however, the feature is expected to be available to all users with a personal Google account, as explained by Google in a post on the official support page. Users will then be accessible in “Search results about you”-section of Google, which is currently not supported in Germany.
Among the 46 countries listed by Google where dark web support is available, both Germany and Austria and Switzerland are included.
Currently, one can already test a free dark web scan from Google through Google One. This, however, only checks if your email address has ended up on the dark web. Other free services such as Have I been pwned? also offer this.
With the expanded report, users will also be able to receive notifications about new findings of their data.
However, the mentioned tools can only check whether your data has already ended up on the dark web – they cannot prevent it. If you want to protect your privacy and data, a U.S. intelligence agency has a simple trick for more security on your phone.
