Conspiracy Theories, Aliens, and The Deep Web

Reading the title, you probably think that I'm scared to go outside. Just one overzealous night on youtube can undermine anyone's experience of reality. Up until 2 in the morning, going down a rabbit hole of crazy stories and bizarre top 5's, I became addicted to the novelty of unanswered questions. Take the relatively innocuous title of, "Top 5 Instances of Time Travel." One minute you didn't think time travel was possible, the next you realize that someone has enough material to select the most unoriginal time traveler ever. You learn that "Men in Black" is based on a true story, Tupac is hiding in Cuba, and resurrections are fairly common. The most shocking thing I discovered were horror stories of “the deep web”. For those of you who don't know, the deep web is a hidden part of the internet where one is capable of being truly anonymous. In an age of increased surveillance, it is important to question the importance of anonymity, even with the chilling possibilities that it engenders. The improbable stories that I heard made me appreciate a Disney movie with a lot of singing and an emotional victory. A question like, "What is the price of a new kidney without all the red tape?" is not one I wish to consider. We live in an age of possibility, and now I understand that includes showing up to your doctor with an ice chest and a solid back-story. Despite the gratuitous horror, the deep web is also a place that could be a safe haven from a tyrannical government and censorship. I guess we must take the good with the bad. In light of the Snowden leaks and the undue snooping that the US government perpetrated, what are the stakes of true privacy? Is the deep web really a bastion of debauchery and lewd interests, or demystified, is it a place where freedom can truly exist?