- Connecting before identifying to NickServ (or whilst services are
unavailable due to a netsplit or maintenance) will show your uncloaked
- IP/hostname. [Authenticating with SASL](kb/answer/sasl) avoids this if
+ IP/hostname. [Authenticating with SASL](/kb/answer/sasl) avoids this if
configured to abort the connection on authentication failure.
- Connecting via a gateway (for instance, the webchat) will override
unaffiliated cloaks (see the "gateway cloaks" section above)
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) or
-[Tor](https://www.torproject.org/) (see our blog post on [connecting to
-freenode via Tor](https://freenode.net/news/tor-online)).
+[VPN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network) or [our Tor hidden
+service](/kb/answer/chat#accessing-freenode-via-tor)).
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
==================
Once you've read and understood the above, if you would like an unaffiliated
-cloak, please drop in to #freenode or speak to a member of the staff team and
-we'll be happy to set one up for you.
+cloak, please drop in to #freenode or speak to a member of the staff team. Note
+that cloaks are a privilege, and staff have the right to deny that privilege to
+users if they deem necessary.
For project cloaks, a registered GC for the project needs to contact staff to
request the cloak be added to the desired user.