In context: The dark web is a portion of the internet accessed only through specific software clients. Tor and other dark web networks are not inherently illegal. However, cybercriminals often abuse the dark web's "hidden" nature to provide unlawful content, conduct malicious operations, and share user data collected through security breaches or ransomware campaigns.
Google will soon bring its "dark web report" feature to most Google Accounts, providing users a new way to check if their personal information has appeared on any of the seedier dark websites. It used to be a paid feature of Google One, but Alphabet is now interested in democratizing some of One's exclusive benefits among its free users.
Google explains that users can set up a specific profile for the report to monitor, checking for sensitive data that has been compromised or found in breaches. A dark web report may look for personal names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, social security numbers, usernames, and passwords.
The feature displays any information found in the breach results in "redacted form" to maintain privacy. Users can regularly check their dark web report in the "Results about you" page available through the mobile app or Google Account page.
Google notified One subscribers regarding the changes, saying the feature will no longer be available through their Google One subscription "starting in late July." Dark web reports will only be accessible through the Google Account page. They are available to both free and paying customers. Dark web reports are available in 46 countries, including many EU nations, the US, the UK, Ukraine, and more.
Dark web monitoring isn't the only feature Google has removed from its paid offering. In late June, the company sent the Google One VPN to the Google Graveyard for an apparent lack of interest, with no official replacement planned. At least One users can still access dark web reports from their main Google Account page. Mountain View boasted about its One paid subscription numbers earlier this year after hitting 100 million. However, the service is gradually losing its appeal for users who don't need additional cloud storage space.