Anonymity
Anonymity is best described as the state or quality of being unknown. In the online world there are thousands of ways in which we are permitted to express ourselves. Whether you enjoy participating in online forums and discussion boards, or enjoy running your own blog and online MySpace profile, we are forced to make many decisions regarding the personal information we reveal. As an author for PC Mechanic, I have obvious forfeited a certain degree of anonymity; my name, city of residence, address, social security number, and more have been revealed to the team in charge of PC Mechanic. This, obviously, boiled down to my level of trust; I know that my personal information is safe in their hands. However, revealing personal information on publicly accessible areas of the internet can be quite a dilemma. Disclosing enough about ourselves can easily turn an anonymous forum member or blogger into an identifiable person. What we reveal and who we reveal this information to can change our lives. In the following section, I am going to detail what information is and isn’t acceptable to reveal over the internet and why. I’ll also discuss a few commonly practiced methods used to preserve our anonymity from being compromised, both online and from other computer users.
Means of Staying Anonymous, We’ve Got to Draw a Line Somewhere
Knowing what to reveal about yourself online is tricky business. In many cases, to be able to communicate with other site members, you’ll have to tell them your email address. For the most part, email addresses fall into the “acceptable” category. First and last names are often quite acceptable because they help build credibility and are hard to trace back a single person; many people may have the same name. On the other hand, disclosing your house phone number and street address on public profiles like MySpace is simply unacceptable. With the rise of online predators and thieves, never publicly divulge anything that can be traced back to you or your residence. Here is how I categorize the disclosure of personal information on the internet.
- Safe: These are bits of personal information that are safe to divulge because they are very tough to trace back to their source.
- First name
- Email address
- Country and city of residence and origin
- Profession
- Debatable: These are bits of personal information that, for the most part, are safe to unveil. However, if enough “debatable” data is released, it may be possible to identify a person.
- Age
- Personal photos
- Last name
- University / College you are attending
- Employer
- Unacceptable: These are bits of personal information that should never be exposed on the internet.
- Home address
- Credit Card number
- Usernames and passwords
- Online banking information
- Phone number
If at all possible, mask your identity with the use of a screen name, or “avatar”, and refrain from disclosing anything remotely associated to your identity. The less you reveal, the less you have to worry about.
Note that when one “posts” their email address online, they are asking for increased amounts of spam. To help cut down on this inevitable increase in spam, replace the “@” symbol with “[at]” or “[@]”.
Less is More
I cannot stress how important it is to watch what you reveal online. Especially with today’s MySpace generation, it is too easy to accidentally let personal information slip.
Apart from the continuous threat of online predators and identity thieves, revealing too much through the internet has many other long term consequences. Consider the following situation. You go to apply for a job and your resume isn’t as complete as the possible employer had hoped for. In desperation for a new employee, they perform a few internet searches and see what comes up. If you’ve never posted your full name on the internet, then you’re in the clear. However, let’s say that you’ve been a member of MySpace for a long time. Upon stumbling across your MySpace profile, the possible employer begins to learn a little more about you; they notice you have posted pictures of yourself and your friends hanging out, perhaps doing something border-line illegal, or even posted immature content on your personal profile. Obviously, the possible employer has the right to reject your applications based on this newly discovered content. Do you see what I’m getting at? Less is more when it comes to unveiling the “real” you on the internet.
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