Anonymity On The Internet

Ever feel like you are being watched? How about having the feeling like some one is following you home from school? Well that is what it will be like if users do not have the privacy on the Internet they deserve. EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), a advocacy group that has been fighting the Clinton Administration for tougher online consumer protection laws, and other privacy protection agencies have formed to protect the rights and privileges of the Internet user. With the U.S. Government, EPIC has had to step in and help small companies and Internet users with their own privacy problems, hackers getting into their systems and ruining the networks, and crackers stealing and decrypting private

In the essay Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt, by Julie Zhou, her thesis is “But the law by itself cannot do enough to disarm the internet’s trolls. Content providers, social network platforms and community sites must also do their part by rethinking the systems they have in place, for user commentary so as to discourage- or disallow- anonymity.” Zhou’s thesis is located in the first two sentences of paragraph nine, on page 89. 2. The issue Zhou addresses in this essay is trolling on the internet.

The internet has become a popular source used by society of a worldwide computer network that provides a variety of information and communication facilities allowing individuals to communicate with one another easily. The internet it self has brought people together but has changed the way people interact with each other, created isolation, some addiction and being unsafe. Nowadays, anything can be shared to the wide world through any device that is able to connect to the internet; where this can lead to what Charles Seife terms as “no privacy” in his article, “The Loneliness of the Interconnected.” According to Seife, the Internet’s vast interconnectivity made it possible for everyone to hear everyone else - and to be heard by everyone else.

In today’s world, Privacy and Security comes hand in hand with internet. Technology allows us free speech and freedom of information over the internet, by imposing strict laws and policies regulating the privacy and security of our information. According to Richard Clarke, free expression over the internet and its privacy are two sides of the same coin (Privacy and security(n.d.)). Writing blogs, uploading posts, comments or pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, networking or sharing links on Linkedin are all considered as our free expression and its security is our right. Individual right to

Due to recent events “The Growing Cowardice of Online Anonymity” by Richard Bernstein, strongly resonates with me. In today’s world the internet has pros and cons. Although I believe online anonymity was initially intended to provide a layer of safety to those engaging in the use

The human identity is worn as a mask with shapeshifting capabilities and espionage. In the real world, this mask appears simplistic; however, the internet is an abstract space of node connections that streams a wild flurry of ideas, people, and identities. One’s mask does not need a definition to stand firmly in this chaos but merely need to express what is hidden beneath the mask: humanity. That is what it means to have the right to anonymity, the freedom of expression and the right to be protected from outside entities who will stop at nothing to forcefully seize the mask along with physical data. One discourse community dedicated to protecting the rights to anonymity is the Tor Project, a worldwide group that helps create an anonymous browser to hide identity details and participates in establishing it in journalism, academia, activism, and normal users. The exploration of the rights of anonymity will be examined through the discourse community characteristics of Tor by reviewing Porters and Swales works in discourse communities, by using methods of primary investigation through interviewing Tor members, and discussing how Tor fits into Swales six characteristics of a discourse community.

Many social media users, for example, have felt the blow of a very hurtful comment from strangers or friends hidden behind a false identity. For example, Twitter has become a venue where anyone from famous politicians, Hollywood elite, to one’s immediate family may spew out inflammatory and bombastic comments that they would never utter in a face to face encounter. This kind of startling exchange is just a sample of how toxic the Internet can be when the users are not accountable and can hide behind the screen of the internet. Due to the loss of face-to-face contact while online, some people obviously feel free to say whatever they want, and with the lack of initial personal reaction from the recipient of these remarks, the online troll feels no remorse. In the article, "Hiding Behind the Screen," Roger Scruton states, "In human relations, risk avoidance means the avoidance of accountability, the refusal to stand judged in another’s eyes, the refusal to come face to face with another person…to run the risk of rejection. Accountability is not something should avoid; it is something we need to learn.” (59). This statement makes one wonder if the cultural shift to online communication and the inevitable lack of

Anonymous posting provides an opportunity for social media users to reveal “honest expression, unencumbered by identity” (Poole). The ability to remain anonymous directly affects users’ online behavior to inevitably portray an extension of their offline persona, yet it also enables the choice to make claims on an identity that differs from reality. When individuals hide behind the mask of electronic anonymity, they can take the role of a cyberbully with the intention to aggravate and distress victims, which demonstrates their moral disengagement toward the feelings of other individuals. Despite the fact that anonymity fosters a “unique sense of community . . . that embraces and encourages freedom of thought [, social media sites such as 4chan have] completely raw and unfiltered discourse” (Poole). The social media site, 4chan, is an online messaging board where anonymous users do not have to submit personal information to be involved in it (Russon). Because it does not replicate real-world social norms by emphasizing the human qualities of conversation such as people’s faces, real names, as well as brief biographies, there is not a baseline of responsibility and thus users are willing to post without inhibition to castigation. The

In more recent years, the issue around Internet privacy is something that has been brought to everyone 's attention. In today 's society everything is based around social media and online shopping. By doing this people are making their information easily accessible for people to use. People document their whole lives on social media making it much easier for people to find information, that some may consider private, about them. When people post a picture with a location attached to it they think it 's harmless but there is a lack of privacy that is allowing people to get hold of information they don 't want out there. It has become much easier for people to get information due to the new technological advances that have been made in the recent years. Companies try to advertise to their customers through the Internet. They do this by personalizing their webpage to what they search, which violates privacy because they are tracking what customers search through cookies and data. Something as harmless as searching for baby clothes for your niece or nephew can turn in to your information being thrown out there and having these companies trying to reach you. Violation of privacy on the Internet is something we should accept because no matter what we try to do to keep our privacy people will always find a way around it. Stealing credit card information is as easy as bumping into someone. There are multiple ways people can defeat personal privacy and it is done through the use of

Acquisti, A. & Gross, R. (2006). Imagined Communities: Awareness, Information Sharing, and Privacy on the Facebook, Proceedings of the 6th Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, Robinson College, Cambridge University, UK.

Nojeim, Director of the Project on Freedom, Security and Technology at the Center for Democracy and Technology stated, “Approaches
 to
 cybersecurity 
that
 would
 eliminate 
pseudonymous 
and
 anonymous 
speech
 online
 would
 put 
privacy 
at
 risk, chill
 free
 expression
 and
 erode 
the 
Internet’s essential 
openness. As 
the
 founders
 of 
our 
country 
recognized,
 anonymity
 and 
pseudonymity 
play 
essential
 roles
 in 
allowing 
political
 views 
to 
be 
aired.
” So while the key to online privacy may be pseudonymity, what happens when this key is abused? If no laws enforcing boundaries for pseudonyms online are created, can criminals keep hiding behind fraudulent online

Throughout time, privacy and security have been two heavily debated topics. There has always been a struggle to find middle ground between a private environment and a secure environment, but the dawn of technology and the Internet has made this struggle even more difficult. The Internet has drastically decreased the expectation of privacy of any and all individuals that have ever used it. Technology in general can pose a threat to an individual’s physical and virtual security. The Internet has also brought forth a sense of anonymity to those looking to conceal their true identities, some of which plan to commit horrific crimes. Privacy and security go hand in hand, however security is by far the most important.

The concern about privacy on the Internet is increasingly becoming an issue of international dispute. ?Citizens are becoming concerned that the most intimate details of their daily lives are being monitored, searched and recorded.? (www.britannica.com) 81% of Net users are concerned about threats to their privacy while online. The greatest threat to privacy comes from the construction of e-commerce alone, and not from state agents. E-commerce is structured on the copy and trade of intimate personal information and therefore, a threat to privacy on the Internet.

Internet privacy is the security of a user’s personal data that is stored or published on the internet. The internet is an important part of every individual’s daily life. In today’s society, the internet is used by many different people for many reasons. It can be used for research, communication, and purchasing items. Without the internet, many things that are completed during the course of a day would be impossible or take time to complete. As people use the internet, everything is stored in a database that tracks and keeps any personal information that is entered by users. As users continue to use the internet to complete important tasks such as purchasing items and paying bills, their privacy and security become at risk. Although the internet can be seen to have a positive impact on society, it does have a negative impact. Since the internet can be accessed by anybody it can cause a lot of damage. Examples of internet risk include identity thieves, phasing, and scams. Due to things such as online shopping, banking and other e-commerce options, personal information is stored in the internet enabling many cybercrimes to occur. Cybercrimes are very similar to any regular crime; the crime just happens to take place on websites for criminals to hack and steal user’s information for their own personal benefit. Cybercriminals tend to attack users based on their emails, social media accounts, and web history because the most history about an individual is stored in those sites.

In today’s world, we are all in some way connected to or involved with the internet. We all use different services that we feel either enrich our lives or make them more enjoyable every day, from email to FaceBook, MySpace, and e-commerce. We all take a sort of false comfort in the basic anonymity of the internet; however, when we think about it, that could end up being the single biggest risk to our own safety today. When we typically think of crimes committed against us, we could probably name several: mugging, theft, scams, murder, and rape. For these, things we all take as many necessary steps as we can to help lower the chances of them happening to us because they are on the forefront of our minds. However, most of us don’t take the