--- title: Americans Think HTML Is An STD According to New Study description: According to a new study canonical: https://time.com/12410/11-of-americans-think-html-is-an-std/ author: Jessica Roy article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-04T19:34:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:25.222Z og:title: Americans Think HTML Is An STD According to New Study og:description: According to a new study og:url: https://time.com/12410/11-of-americans-think-html-is-an-std/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt243ad42f67e2c359/698683dcf983e79cdc04c92f/aa023399.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: HTML Tag on a Computer Monitor Screen og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Americans Think HTML Is An STD According to New Study twitter:description: According to a new study twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt243ad42f67e2c359/698683dcf983e79cdc04c92f/aa023399.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Study: 11% of Americans Think HTML Is an STD > Sponsored content. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: TIME Explains: The Deep Web [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The Deep Web](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DQbujPQY.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2013-10-31. The FBI takedown of the online market Silk Road reveals the challenges of regulating the Deep Web. Here's what you need to know._ by [Jessica Roy](https://time.com/author/jessica-roy/) ## Jessica Roy Mar 4, 2014 7:34 PM UTC  HTML Tag on a Computer Monitor Screen HTML Tag on a Computer Monitor Screen Nick Koudis—Getty Images by [Jessica Roy](https://time.com/author/jessica-roy/) ## Jessica Roy Mar 4, 2014 7:34 PM UTC Had a particularly raucous night that ended with you doing the walk of shame the next morning? Uh oh, hope you don’t get HTML. Just kidding! HTML is a programming language that’s used to make websites, but according to a new study from [VoucherCloud](http://www.vouchercloud.net/) and [published](http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-1-10-americans-html-std-study-finds-20140304,0,1188415.story#axzz2v1X0Ct00) by the _L.A. Times_, 1 in every 9 Americans–or exactly 11%–think HTML is actually a sexually transmitted disease. VoucherCloud surveyed 2,392 people ages 18 or older and, according to the _L.A. Times_, “were given both tech and non-tech terms and were asked to choose from three possible definitions.” The results? An embarrassing amount of Americans think HTML is a disease you can catch from another human being–which says a lot about the state of both sex _and_ computer education in the U.S. Other findings, unearthed by the _Times_: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- It’s like they ONLY interviewed my grandma and her friends! ### PHOTOS: The Rise of Mobile Phones from 1916 to Today  1916 A German field telephone station in the Aisne department of northern France during World War I. Paul Thompson—FPG/Getty Images  1970 French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in a scene from the film 'Point de Chute' (aka 'Falling Point'). Keystone/Holton/Getty Images  1980 An early mobile phone during the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London. Kypros/Getty Images  1983 Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colorado, places a call on an FCC-approved radio frequency while driving to work. Lyn Alweis—Denver Post/Getty Images  1986 THE A-TEAM "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" Episode 5\. (l-r) Eddie Velez as Frankie Santana, Robert Vaughn as General Hunt Stockwell, George Peppard as John 'Hannibal' Smith. Bill Dow—NBC/Getty Images  1992 Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talks on a cell phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25. Mark Lennihan—AP  1993 Whoopi Goldberg during ShoWest in Las Vegas. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  1997 A farmer with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and talking on a mobile Phone, in Delhi. India Today Group/Getty Images  2001 A woman watches smoke pour out of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on September 11. Nicholas Goldberg—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  2011 A rebel militiaman speaks on his mobile phone after capturing territory from government troops on March 25 in Ben Jawat, Libya. John Moore—Getty Images  2011 A youth films the aftermath of tear gas police fired at protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23 in Cairo. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty Images  2012 Audience members take pictures of President Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, Florida. Marc Serota—Getty Images  2014 A teenager takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a walk around St. Georges Market in Belfast. The Queen has apparently voiced her dismay that when she carries out engagements she is greeted by a sea of mobile phones. Peter Macdiarmid—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP ## Transcript On October 1st in San Francisco, the FBI caught a guy named Ross Ulbricht who they suspect of selling drugs online through a website called Silk Road which is part of the Deep Web. And here is what you need to know about the Deep Web. The Deep Web is loosely speaking every part of the internet that is not indexed by search engines. Silk Road was on a part of the Deep Web of the Tor network. And what's interesting about the Tor network is it's a part of the internet where nobody knows who you are. It has complete privacy, complete anonymity. Anything you do there or say there cannot be associated with your identity or your life. The government actually created the Tor network-- it was the Navy in particular-- and they did this because intelligence agents find it very useful. Law enforcement uses it for dissidents, journalists. But unfortunately, increasingly, criminals use it too. A lot of criminals, who used to have to find dark alleys where they could do their business, now simply do it on the Deep Web. They sell drugs, fake IDs, hacking software, and increasingly, weapons and child pornography. The Deep Web poses a major problem for the government. The government built it, but it doesn't know how to control it. The laws that govern search warrants relating to technology and networks are very old. And as is generally the case, technology evolves a lot faster than the law does. Ironically, the need for Tor is even more urgent now than it was when Tor was first created. More and more, there are companies like Google and Facebook which make billions of dollars by collecting personal information. And we, as those users, are being asked to manage our personal information in ways that we never had to before. And Tor is the perfect tool for that. It provides all the privacy and the anonymity we could ever desire. Unfortunately, it has this terrible potential for abuse as well. Bottom- line, there really is no such thing as a bad technology. 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