Title: User and project cloaks
---
-There are two types of "cloak" which can be set on accounts on freenode; both
+There are two types of cloak which can be set on accounts on freenode; both
replace the hostname/IP displayed when you are connected (but only when you're
identified to NickServ - see below).
There are also gateway cloaks, which are automatically applied if you're
connecting from certain providers, gateways or web IRC clients, whether or not
-you are identified to NickServ, and which override unaffiliated cloaks..
+you are identified to NickServ, and which override unaffiliated cloaks.
Project cloaks
==============
Project cloaks typically take the form `project/role/user`, for instance
-`freenode/staff/bigpresh` (however, some take othe forms). They are designed to
-demonstrate that the user is connected to the project in some way. Different
-projects use cloaks for various roles - some only use them for their "core"
-team, some will assign "user" cloaks as well.
+`freenode/staff/bigpresh` (however, some take other forms). They are designed to
+demonstrate that the user is connected to a project in some way. Different
+projects use cloaks for various roles - some only use them for their core
+team, some will assign user cloaks as well.
Project cloaks can only be requested by a registered group contact of an
already [registered group](pages/groupreg) - they should contact a member of
Unaffiliated cloaks
===================
-Unaffiliated cloaks take the form `unaffiliated/accountname`. They indicate that
-you are not affiliated with any specific project on freenode. They can also
-help obscure your IP from casual observers, to a certain degree - but see the
-weaknesses section below.
+Unaffiliated cloaks for users take the form `unaffiliated/accountname`. They
+indicate that you are not affiliated with any specific project on freenode.
+They can also help obscure your IP from casual observers, to a certain degree
+- but see the weaknesses section below.
+
+Bots can also be cloaked to indicate their owner - unaffiliated bot cloaks take
+the form `unaffiliated/bot/accountname`, where the accountname in that case is
+the bot owner's account name, not the bot's account.
Gateway cloaks
- Accepting a DCC chat/file transfer session, or clicking a link someone sends
you could reveal your IP to them
-For these reasons, we advise you to consider cloaks very basic protection from
-casual observers, and a way to stop your IP/hostname being passively logged in
-most cases, but caution that they cannot be relied upon to hide your IP/hostname
-robustly - if you want that, you should consider an IRC bouncer, VPN or Tor.
+For these reasons, we advise you to consider cloaks as only very basic
+protection from casual observers, and a way to stop your IP/hostname being
+passively logged in most cases, but caution that they cannot be relied upon to
+hide your IP/hostname robustly - if you want that, you should consider an
+[IRC bouncer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC_bouncer),
+[VPN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network)
+[Tor](https://www.torproject.org/) (see our blog post on
+[connecting to freenode via Tor](https://freenode.net/news/tor-online).
Do consider, however, just how much you need to hide your IP address; it's
disclosed routinely during normal Internet usage - for instance, every website
address, and do not have any problems.
To re-iterate, the primary purpose of cloaks is to show your project affiliation,
-or lack thereof. "Hiding your IP" is not their primary purpose, and they cannot
+or lack thereof. Hiding your IP is not their primary purpose, and they cannot
be fully relied upon to do that.
+Also, even when you are cloaked, you will see your own IP if you /whois
+yourself.
+
Requesting a cloak
==================
Once you've read and understood the above, if you would like an unaffiliated
projects / irc / freenode / web-7.0.git / blobdiff