Type: Government intelligence agency — official Tor presence
Purpose: Anonymous tips and information from global sources
Account required: No
Clearnet version: cia.gov
Last verified: March 2026
Onion Address
Why the CIA Has a .onion Address
The CIA launched its .onion service in 2019, explicitly to allow people in countries that block CIA.gov — China, Russia, Iran — to access its public information and, more practically, to provide a secure channel for submitting tips and intelligence.
The logic is straightforward: sources who want to share information with US intelligence but live in surveillance-heavy environments need a way to do so without their government seeing them connect to cia.gov. A .onion address that routes through Tor provides that. The CIA is one of relatively few government agencies to operate a genuine .onion service rather than merely a clearnet site that is accessible via Tor.
Note on Anonymity
Accessing the CIA’s .onion address hides your IP from CIA servers and prevents your ISP from logging a connection to cia.gov. It does not make your communication anonymous to the CIA itself — they receive whatever information you choose to submit. If you are submitting sensitive information, understand what the CIA can and cannot see in that interaction.