content/kb/general/cloaks.md

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