Ahmia

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 September 2026

Ahmia is a privacy-respecting search engine for publicly accessible Tor (.onion) websites. We explain in this policy what limited information we collect, why we collect it, and how we use it—always protecting your anonymity. This Privacy Policy applies to all users of Ahmia, including its Tor and clearnet versions. For more details of functionality, refer to our Terms of Service.

1. Data Minimisation and Personal Data

Ahmia is designed not to collect or retain direct identifiers such as IP addresses, names, account identifiers, or persistent user identifiers. Search terms, HTTP Referer values, or other request metadata may nevertheless contain information entered or supplied by a user. Ahmia does not use such information to identify or track individuals.

Please do not enter personally identifiable information into search terms or send personal data via email unless absolutely necessary and only with your explicit consent.

2. No Tracking. No Profiling. No Cookies.

  • No IP addresses are stored.
  • No cookies are used.
  • No browser fingerprinting or local storage is employed.
  • No tracking pixels or analytics are used.
  • No user profiles are created.
  • No data is stored or accessed on your device.
  • No login or registration is required.
  • We never combine Ahmia usage data with other datasets to identify users.

3. Right to Erasure (Right to Be Forgotten)

Ahmia does not retain any identifiable user data. However, if you believe that a link indexed by Ahmia violates your privacy rights (e.g., links to harmful or defamatory content), you may submit a removal request under Article 17 of the GDPR.

Once we receive a valid request, we may process limited personal data to assess and respond to the request. We evaluate each case individually and may delist or lower the visibility of `.onion` URLs when justified under Finnish or EU law.

4. What We Collect and Why

Ahmia collects limited request and log data for academic research, service quality, safety filtering, and evaluation of help interventions. It is designed not to collect direct personal identifiers.

  • Search terms submitted via the interface
  • Clicked links and redirect destinations on Ahmia, including help or self-help links
  • Safety or intervention category and experiment label associated with a filtered search, where enabled
  • Browser user agent
  • HTTP Referer header
  • Timestamps of requests

These logs do not contain IP addresses. A safety or intervention category is derived from the matched query and is used as a query-level label; it is not linked across searches to create a user profile. Logs are used for academic research, search engine maintenance, filtering improvements, and evaluation of help interventions.

5. How We Use This Data

  • Data is stored without IP addresses.
  • Data is not sold or rented.
  • Data is only shared with trusted academic collaborators under research agreements.
  • Data is used for ethical and legally compliant academic research.
  • Data is used to improve automatic filtering and public safety (e.g., content moderation).
  • Data may be used to measure aggregate engagement with help resources and to compare experimental layouts or category-specific messages.

Ahmia supports peer-reviewed academic research. For example, data from Ahmia contributed to the publication titled “Investigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy”, see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58346-7

6. Updates to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated as our research and technologies evolve. The latest version will always be published on this page. All updates are recorded in a public GitHub changelog for transparency. Continued use of the service after changes implies acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

For privacy concerns, legal matters, or abuse reports, please contact Juha Nurmi at juha.nurmi@ahmia.fi. Please do not include sensitive personal data unless necessary.

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