>> great archeological finds. that's it for this edition of al jazeera news. >> thanks for watching. america tonight is up next. i'll see you again in an hour.

think about all the ways we're caught in the web. shady operators on the web lead many to elicit temptations. america tonight correspondent

an law enforcement is in a daily struggle to stop it. >> the first time you logged on to the dark net to buy drugs, how nervous were you? >> i was pretty nervous. >>reporter: she was just 15 when she started buying drugs off the dark net. she asked us not to use her name. >> what was the surprising thing about the dark net for you? >> that you could order drugs in anywhere from the world and they could just be delivered to your door step. >>reporter: by using a blouser called tore she was able to anonymously access sites invisible to most search engines where the illegal drug trade is thriving. here she ordered everything from acid to mdma to cocaine. like almost a million other users, she made most of her purchases on a site called silk road, a marketplace known as the eh bay of online drug sales. >> as soon as you log on you just see images of all kinds of

drugs. in 2013 the fbi seized silk road and arrested its master mind. >> i was terrified they would track me. >>reporter: the takedown of silk road was just the beginning of an international crackdown on deep net markets. hoping to deter online users, officials helped arrest 17 people from 17 countries. they seized several markets that have gained popularity after silk road's death. what did you see happen after silk road was taken down? >> the problem got worse. >>reporter: he's a pioneer of bit coin the currency used on the dark net. he also raised money for

albreit's defense. >> there's more markets than ever before. more people are engaging in free trade than ever before. >>reporter: the government crackdown is driving markets in an even darker direction. silk road he says at least set some limits. >> it had a real set terms of service. they specifically forbid anyone from being allowed to sell anything that is designed to harm other people so they were not allowed to sell stolen credit cards or child porn or anything that's used to hurt other people and now that the original silk road is down there's maybe two dozen other markets that have anything goes. >>reporter: one of those sites, evolution, is the undisputed leader of the dark net markets that remain. >> okay. so every time we log in, this is what we're going to see on the front page? >> this is the main home page here. >>reporter: dan polumbo says hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting people have become victims. >> so this is scary.

bank log in there's 143 apps on here? >> there's listing for bank accounts so probably thousands for sale. look at this. user name password mailing address, cash accounts checking accounts savings accounts. that's somebody's whole banking profile. this really is more serious and scary than just having your credit card information. >>reporter: how has the user friendliness impacted people's ability to engage in illegal and dangerous behavior? >> it's easier to do it. evolution is very clean and modern very easy to use as far as click buy and check out. use your bit coin which i think is why it's grown so much in a relatively short amount of time. >>reporter: we wanted to see just how easy it was to purchase bank information on evolution. so we created a log in and searched through the vendors

selling hacked bank accounts. one called dimitri had a 100% approval rate. >> so i send a message to him he's got discover log ins with full card details and email access. he's got bank of america bank log ins, american express log ins. to get his attention i asked how much he would charge for 100 bank of america log ins. he responded within minutes saying he didn't have that many on hand but he'd be happy to load up his fishing pages. 100 is a lot though and not cheep. >> it's definitely alarming. he maintains the law enforcement crackdown is necessary and having an impact. >> they're doing i would say a

very good job while these sites do come back you see them take an initial hit and it does hurt the marketplace. >> is this going away or here to stay? >> you'll see law enforcement have successes and then these guys who are very resilient come back with different websites and different it rations. they'll probably all move overseas. but he estimates the number of listings on dark net markets has rebounded to precrackdown levels and the demand for drugs by far the most popular listings on these sites is stronger than ever. >> i actually got this off the clearer web. >> after the recent arrest this user took a break from the dark net switching to a regular site that doesn't need a special browser to buy antianxiety pills. but those orders are

increasingly being seized at customs. >> is it really easy to access this stuff? >> have you to be extremely patient because it's very slow but this isn't like using internet explore or or fire fox. you're using the onion router which is tore which bounces your request for page around a world network of computers so if you can sit through all that bouncing and if you can get through that process and know what you're looking for, eventually you'll end up on sites like this which are like amazon and ebay where there's a rating system. it's a marketplace.

>> what about the guy running the silk road? >> he was convicted on seven different counts one of them being selling narcotics online but he was also facing a charge of engaging in criminal enterprise which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years behind bars up to life in prison. so some say if he was just doing this buying and selling of drugs that people should be allowed to engage in that and that's much too much of a penalty. on the other hand, these things he was doing are illegal according to our laws so the federal government is saying we're going to crack down on this and he should pay the penalty. >> but for the feds trying to stop these sites, this is like playing whack a mole. you're trying to stamp out these sites but they crop back up again. >> that's the thing that we're seeing. the feds have said they're coming after you. this is illegal according to our laws. and also these other things we're starting to see.

we've heard stories that there could be -- you could buy an assassin online in the dark net. so the feds are definitely intent on cutting this off and calling it quits. >> of course you've seen the resilience and people that use them like them and say they're going to continue to use them. ed >> later, your secret is out. next taking their shot gun rights activists put their issue to the test against texas lawmen. >> why with that weapon? >> why not? it's my right to do so. >> fast forward to find out what their next target is and hot on america tonight's website now, ocd took over her life but doctors reached deep into her brain to get it back. now she tells us exclusively how deep brain stimulation changed her thinking.

that's at al jazeera.com/america tonight.

>> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live... in our fast forward segment, armed for a fight.

we've seen a number of communities rise up in an effort to hold law enforcement accountable. outside of dallas one watch dog group has armed itself for its patrols. it's not just with cameras either. >>reporter: corey watkins' police scanner crackles to life. moments later, he rushes to the scene of a traffic stop. >> i see lights. >>reporter: and there's another cop that just pulled in. >>reporter: with his ak 47 assault rifle slung over his shoulder, he begins his night's work, video camera in hand. >> looks like they're arresting somebody. >>reporter: along side watkins are fellow members of his cop watch group. >> i just called this in. >>reporter: watkins may seem like an unlikely ally of police watchers around the country >> don't you like how they stand like that. >>reporter: but for more than a year they have take on the the

streets. >> more now than every we need police accountability. we need people out there recording. it's not just our area. it's all over the country. >>reporter: but police say they can sometimes go too far. >> what's your badge number? >>reporter: we were shown this video of an officer's interaction with watkins and members of the group. why cop watch with that weapon? >> why not? you know it's my right to do so and i want to exert my freedoms in the biggest way possible that way more freedoms are created. >>reporter: fast forward to what's happening now. a texas state legislature has introduced a bill making it illegal to videotape police officers close up. the law would keep the public at least 25 feet away from police and armed citizens would have to stand 100 feet back.

wednesday on america tonight, switching sides. >> what did you witness here? >> i witnessed my son-in-law killed by a swat team that i founded. >> michael oku on why a sheriff from may berry became a one-man police watch dog up next profiling, what's the risk in all these secrets you've already given away. and lakes, it then gets into the food chain... >> that's hitting home >> it ends up on the dinner plate of people... >> techknow only on al jazeera america

>> weeknights on al jazeera america. >> join me as we bring you an in-depth look at the most important issues of the day. breaking it down. getting you the facts. it's the only place you'll find... the inside story. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". weeknights, 11:30 east

now to the lure of the internet and the online dangers we're complisit in exposing ourselves too. we also may actually be helping some of the brokers who track and trade online our personal information. >>reporter: where you shop what you buy, how old your children are or whether you might drink too much. you would think that's all private information but you'd be wrong. these personal details are being collected. categorized and bought and sold every day by data brokers. >> their biggest gathering tremendous amounts of data on people. >>reporter: he reports on cyber security for his blog and he says when it comes to big data

brokers hold the keys to the kingdom. >> they know what i buy, whether it's underwear, shoes, cars houses. >> absolutely. >> so they know in some cases more about me than maybe some of my friends or relatives do. >>reporter: more about you than you know about you. >>reporter: and for most americans, that is knowing too much. a recent pugh poll showed that the overwellal -- overwellaling majority of people think -- pack dixon showed us some of those profiles or lists many of us end up on.

>> here's a list that says alcohol drinkers adult. do i really want my name on this list? if i'm an alcohol drinker. >>reporter: there are scores of lists for sale. >> i'm seeing everything from dry eyes to bed wetting to canker sores. >>reporter: here's another one. substance abuse road to recovery book buyer's club. >> how do they know that? how do the data brokers know that i bought that book? >> so this is a list of people in a book buyers club so that list is being sold. so if you're purchasing a list or a book from that club that's how they're getting it. >>reporter: day at that brokers aren't just getting customer information from retailers. they also mine public records and monitor our public -- monitor our public hostings on

social media. also online surveys. the profiles are precious commodities, as good as gold for the brokers and the clients they sell them to. >> they know this about me and categorize me in order to make it easier for them to sell me more stuff? >> to sell your profile to people who want to sell you more stuff, yeah exactly. >> they're getting the clusters. >>reporter: pam dixon believes that if the result of all this profiling was just targeted in better ads, there would be no reason for concern but that's not what she's worried about. >> if you're a major employer or a major health plan you could purchase this list. >> you don't know for certain that employers are purchasing these lists but the fact is they can. >> that's correct. that's exactly correct. this is really outside of regulation. there aren't any laws that say

that employers can't buy these lists and they're not that expensive. >>reporter: america tonight contacted exact data a chicago-based data broker without asking why they needed them they agreed to sell us all kinds of lists, names, home and email addresses of people who use online data services gamblers and suffers. al jazeera america could have purchased access to deeply private information about tens of thousands of unsuspecting individuals. access that some fear could be bought by anyone. >> there are a lot of what ifs that you could come up with in your mind about what else could happen with that data but a lot of what we do as an industry is work very hard to make sure that, that marketing data is only used for the purposes of

marketing. >>reporter: she's the chief lobbyist for the trade group that represents data brokers. >> they say you guys are unregulated, shadowings secret. fair? >> nothing could be further from the truth. dma has had a self-regulatory code for more than 40 years. there's incredible amounts of self-regulation going on in this industry. >>reporter: are you aware of direct data from chicago? >> not off the top of my head. >>reporter: so you would not know if they're a member or not. >> no. >>reporter: well we called exact data and they basically offered to sell us lists of all kinds of private -- what i think many members of the public would consider to be sensitive information. they were willing to sell it to us so long as we were willing to pay for it. >> i can't speak to that particular situation but i think

there's more to the story very likely. you know in a case where marketing data is being sold and purchased and transferred between companies, our code of ethics would say you can only share that information. it can only be purchased for marketing purposes. >>reporter: it doesn't always happen that way. take experion. they are the fort knox of consumer information. the holder of all kinds of credit and marketing data. but in a major lapse, an identity thief in vietnam was able to gain access to a database containing personal information about 200 million americans from a company owned by experion. >> they were selling information they claim unknowingly.

the person posing as an american private eye was a 24-year-old man from vietnam who pleaded guilty to identity fraud. in a statement, experion said any implication that there was a breach of 200 million records is entirely false and misleading while the size of the database may be 200 million, that does not mean they were accessed. to be clear, no experion information was accessed. >> it's a recipe for disaster when they collect this information on people and when they have a security incident that jeopardizes the security of that information, there really aren't any consequences.

the question that comes out of this is how can we feel safe the public at large, about keeping this sensitive information in the hands of data brokers like experion and others. >> that particular case is one that is ongoing. it's a legal investigation, a law enforcement investigation and it's possible that if a wrong doing is -- it's entirely a given that if a wrong doing is found, the company will have to answer for that. >>reporter: a national survey found almost two in three americans believe government should do more to regulate what advertisers do with personal information. president obama says he hears them. >> next month we'll issue a report on how we're keeping our promise to keep our country safe while strengthening our privacy. >>reporter: three years in the make, the consumer privacy bill of rights act gives companies 45

days to delete information specific to a user if the user withdraws his or her consent for data collection and mandates that companies delete consumer's data after it has been used for the intended purposes. the bill has been panned by industry groups which say there's plenty of regulation already. one company is attempting to answer critic's concerns. in an industry first data broke action recently launched about the data.com which lets you see some of what it knows about you. >> this is the first opportunity we've ever had to look behind the scenes of what a data broker generally has about us. i see your date of birth, your male african-american, you completed graduate school married, have a child, your child is 7 years old. >>reporter: wow. this is pretty accurate. >> that's pretty scary. why does someone need to know all that information?

>> why do they need to know how old my child is? >> it's disconcerting. >>reporter: dixon wants other data brokers to follow the lead and be more transparent about what they know and who they're selling to. >> i want to make sure that if there is information out there on any list that a consumer has the right to say to any broker i want off that list. something to think about before you press enter. that's america tonight. tell us what you think at al jazeera.com/america tonight. talk to us on twitter or facebook and come back. we'll have more of america tonight tomorrow.

it doesn't matter who wins israel's elections prime minister neath's campaign has exposed a truth, israel and mesh do not see eye to eye on a lot of things. i'll look at the fractures that need to be fixed. plus, new clashes on the west bank reminding everyone of the crisis that's not going away no matter who leads israel. we'll ask the palestinian ambassador about state hood