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a4cef4d4 DP |
1 | Title: User and project cloaks |
2 | --- | |
f0aecead EK |
3 | |
4 | There are two types of cloak which can be set on accounts on freenode; both | |
74aebb6e | 5 | replace the hostname/IP displayed when you are connected (but only when you're |
f0aecead | 6 | identified to NickServ—see below). |
74aebb6e DP |
7 | |
8 | There are also gateway cloaks, which are automatically applied if you're | |
9 | connecting from certain providers, gateways or web IRC clients, whether or not | |
e177d39f | 10 | you are identified to NickServ, and which override unaffiliated cloaks. |
a4cef4d4 | 11 | |
f0aecead | 12 | |
a4cef4d4 DP |
13 | Project cloaks |
14 | ============== | |
f0aecead | 15 | |
a4cef4d4 | 16 | Project cloaks typically take the form `project/role/user`, for instance |
f0aecead EK |
17 | `freenode/staff/bigpresh` (though some take other forms). They are designed to |
18 | demonstrate that the user is connected to a project in some way. Different | |
19 | projects use cloaks for various roles—some only use them for their core | |
e177d39f | 20 | team, some will assign user cloaks as well. |
a4cef4d4 DP |
21 | |
22 | Project cloaks can only be requested by a registered group contact of an | |
f0aecead | 23 | already [registered group](pages/groupreg)—they should contact a member of |
a4cef4d4 DP |
24 | freenode staff to request that a user be given a project cloak. |
25 | ||
26 | ||
27 | Unaffiliated cloaks | |
28 | =================== | |
f0aecead EK |
29 | |
30 | Unaffiliated cloaks for users take the form `unaffiliated/accountname`. They | |
c56d90d0 | 31 | indicate that you are not affiliated with any specific project on freenode. |
f0aecead EK |
32 | They can also help obscure your IP from casual observers to a certain |
33 | degree—but see the weaknesses section below. | |
c56d90d0 | 34 | |
f0aecead EK |
35 | Bots can also be cloaked to indicate their owner—unaffiliated bot cloaks |
36 | take the form `unaffiliated/owneraccountname/bot/botaccountname`. | |
a4cef4d4 DP |
37 | |
38 | ||
39 | Gateway cloaks | |
40 | ============== | |
f0aecead | 41 | |
a4cef4d4 | 42 | If you are connected via a gateway which sets a gateway cloak (for instance, our |
f0aecead EK |
43 | webchat, or KiwiIRC, or some bouncer/shell providers) you will receive an |
44 | automatic gateway cloak—for instance `gateway/web/freenode/ip.1.2.3.4`—these | |
a4cef4d4 DP |
45 | gateway cloaks override unaffiliated cloaks, but do not override project cloaks. |
46 | ||
21c60845 DP |
47 | There are also gateway cloaks which may denote that the host the user is coming |
48 | from is recognised as a large-scale NAT gateway (where the public IP is being | |
49 | shared by many individual customers behind it) or conferences, where many users | |
50 | are at one location temporarily. | |
51 | ||
a4cef4d4 DP |
52 | |
53 | Cloaks do not effectively hide your IP | |
54 | ====================================== | |
f0aecead | 55 | |
a4cef4d4 DP |
56 | Cloaks can help obscure your IP address/hostname from casual observers, but |
57 | should *not* be relied upon for that purpose, as they are not reliable: | |
58 | ||
f0aecead EK |
59 | - Connecting before identifying to NickServ (or whilst services are |
60 | unavailable due to a netsplit or maintenance) will show your uncloaked | |
c9bd09f7 | 61 | IP/hostname. [Authenticating with SASL](/kb/answer/sasl) avoids this if |
4171ab1e | 62 | configured to abort the connection on authentication failure. |
f0aecead EK |
63 | - Connecting via a gateway (for instance, the webchat) will override |
64 | unaffiliated cloaks (see the "gateway cloaks" section above) | |
65 | - Due to the nature of IRC services, there are some tricks which can cause | |
66 | services to reveal a cloaked user's IP/hostname. | |
67 | - Accepting a DCC chat/file transfer session, or clicking a link someone sends | |
68 | you could reveal your IP to them | |
a4cef4d4 | 69 | |
81213623 DP |
70 | For these reasons, we advise you to consider cloaks as only very basic |
71 | protection from casual observers, and a way to stop your IP/hostname being | |
72 | passively logged in most cases, but caution that they cannot be relied upon to | |
f0aecead EK |
73 | hide your IP/hostname robustly—if you want that, you should consider an [IRC |
74 | bouncer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC_bouncer), | |
049b39c8 | 75 | [VPN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network) or [our Tor hidden |
76 | service](/kb/answer/chat#accessing-freenode-via-tor)). | |
a4cef4d4 | 77 | |
fbb9b6df | 78 | Do consider, however, just how much you need to hide your IP address; it's |
f0aecead | 79 | disclosed routinely during normal Internet usage—for instance, every website |
fbb9b6df | 80 | you visit will necessarily see your IP address, unless you are using a VPN or |
f0aecead | 81 | Tor. Many, many users happily use IRC for decades, never hiding their IP |
fbb9b6df DP |
82 | address, and do not have any problems. |
83 | ||
f0aecead EK |
84 | To reiterate, the primary purpose of cloaks is to show your project |
85 | affiliation, or lack thereof. Hiding your IP is not their primary purpose, and | |
86 | they cannot be fully relied upon to do that. | |
5092071b | 87 | |
507b2434 DP |
88 | Also, even when you are cloaked, you will see your own IP if you /whois |
89 | yourself. | |
90 | ||
f0aecead | 91 | |
a4cef4d4 DP |
92 | Requesting a cloak |
93 | ================== | |
f0aecead | 94 | |
a4cef4d4 | 95 | Once you've read and understood the above, if you would like an unaffiliated |
d52178a1 EV |
96 | cloak, please drop in to #freenode or speak to a member of the staff team. Note |
97 | that cloaks are a privilege, and staff have the right to deny that privilege to | |
98 | users if they deem necessary. | |
a4cef4d4 DP |
99 | |
100 | For project cloaks, a registered GC for the project needs to contact staff to | |
101 | request the cloak be added to the desired user. |