An Analysis of Tools for Online Anonymity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible explanations for the slow adoption and development of online anonymity technology. The ability to remain anonymous while engaging in different activities, online is increasingly sought after by consumers with privacy concerns. Currently, the only way to maintain online anonymity is through the use of technology. This paper reviews and analyzes the tools currently available to consumers to maintain online anonymity. There are only four tools available to consumers to ensure online anonymity: anonymous remailers, rewebbers, The Onion Router (Tor) and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P). These tools provide the protection needed for an Internet user to remain anonymous but suffer from a lack of usability and adoption. Design/methodology/approach The authors have selected a few specific online anonymity technologies based on the following criteria: the technology satisfies our full anonymity definition, the technology is currently available for public use and the technology has been academically researched. Findings Few anonymity technologies are available for public use that offer the ability for full online anonymity, and these technologies are difficult for the average computer user to operate. Further research is still needed to help determine what the average user wants to see in an anonymity technology as well as ways to help users integrate the technology into their commodity software (such as Web browsers). Future online anonymity technologies should enable the user to decide when, how and with whom their information is shared if it is shared at all with ease and simplicity. Originality/value The authors identify, explain and analyze publicly available online anonymity technologies in terms of their usability. The authors identified ways as to how online anonymity technology can be improved to increase public adoption. The authors make pertinent recommendations on how the design and development of online anonymity technology can be improved in the future

From Anonymity to Identification

This article examines whether anonymity online has a future. In the early days of the Internet, strong cryptography, anonymous remailers, and a relative lack of surveillance created an environment conducive to anonymous communication. Today, the outlook for online anonymity is poor. Several forces combine against it: ideologies that hold that anonymity is dangerous, or that identifying evil-doers is more important than ensuring a safe mechanism for unpopular speech; the profitability of identification in commerce; government surveillance; the influence of intellectual property interests and in requiring hardware and other tools that enforce identification; and the law at both national and supranational levels. As a result of these forces, online anonymity is now much more difficult than previously, and looks to become less and less possible. Nevertheless, the ability to speak truly freely remains an important \u27safety valve\u27 technology for the oppressed, for dissidents, and for whistle-blowers. The article argues that as data collection online merges with data collection offline, the ability to speak anonymously online will only become more valuable. Technical changes will be required if online anonymity is to remain possible. Whether these changes are possible depends on whether the public comes to appreciate value the option of anonymous speech while it is still possible to engineer mechanisms to permit it

From Anonymity to Identification

This article examines whether anonymity online has a future. In the early days of the Internet, strong cryptography, anonymous remailers, and a relative lack of surveillance created an environment conducive to anonymous communication. Today, the outlook for online anonymity is poor. Several forces combine against it: ideologies that hold that anonymity is dangerous, or that identifying evil-doers is more important than ensuring a safe mechanism for unpopular speech; the profitability of identification in commerce; government surveillance; the influence of intellectual property interests and in requiring hardware and other tools that enforce identification; and the law at both national and supranational levels. As a result of these forces, online anonymity is now much more difficult than previously, and looks to become less and less possible. Nevertheless, the ability to speak truly freely remains an important \u27safety valve\u27 technology for the oppressed, for dissidents, and for whistle-blowers. The article argues that as data collection online merges with data collection offline, the ability to speak anonymously online will only become more valuable. Technical changes will be required if online anonymity is to remain possible. Whether these changes are possible depends on whether the public comes to appreciate value the option of anonymous speech while it is still possible to engineer mechanisms to permit it

Get rid of yourself: toward an aesthetics of anonymity

This thesis explores and examines the concept of anonymity by critically engaging with a set of conceptual discussions developed at the end of the 1990s as part of a larger debate regarding the changing character of the Internet. It brings these discussions into contact with a long and rich history of what the thesis calls ‘cultural anonymity’ in order to explore their theoretical and empirical limitations. It does this through the analysis of a number of historical and contemporary practices drawn from the worlds of art, literature and radical politics. The thesis demonstrates that anonymity has undergone, and continues to undergo significant mutations and transformations, insisting that any conceptual understanding of anonymity must recognise that anonymity is always produced by, and results from the material-discursive assemblages in which it is performed. It argues that far from being universally applicable and ‘value-neutral’ as some have observed, these early conceptual discussions of anonymity are premised on a decidedly liberal view of politics and subjectivity, which places limits on the analytical and political potential of the theorisations of anonymity they offer, positioning them as examples of what the thesis calls, following Deleuze and Guattari, ‘state thought’. In contrast, the thesis develops a theorisation of anonymity understood along ethico-aesthetic lines, through which anonymity is established as a concept of difference. In following these lines of inquiry, the thesis explores a politics and ethics of anonymity that is revealed as a form of refusal, which opens onto new articulations of subjectivity and the desire to remodel modes of existence. The thesis concludes by asserterting the salience of the ‘aesthetics of anonymity’ as a form of minor politics, concerned with a positive, emancipatory sense of freedom that is uncoupled from majoritarian formations and their discriminatory logics

Time-Decay-Based Reputation Method for Buyers Making Decisions in Online Shopping

Trust and reputation is considered a significant part of the Internet marketing. Internet transactions or interactions involve anonymity of participants, which are more risky on account of uncertainty about the quality of service or identity of service providers. Reputation system is a mechanism to determine who is trustworthy and induce Internet marketing’s participants to maintain a good reputation while performing Internet activities. We consider that the evaluation of service provider’s reputation or participant’s honesty and responsibility constrained in some way by three factors, they are service quality, transaction time, and dollar value involved in the transaction(s), we called them as triple constraint. Very little research had done to pinpoint the relationship between trust and reputation with this triple constraint, especially when trust decay and time decay factors involved in the reputation evaluation process. We propose and investigate a novel dynamic trust and reputation framework based on the three factors mentioned above to reflect the more realistic reputation of the service providers in the Internet market

Why Should We Use Online Research Methods? Four Doctoral Health Student Perspectives.

The growth of the Internet has led to an increase in researchers utilizing online methods. Online communities such as forums, blogs, and video platforms are particularly useful for research involving populations that are Internet savvy, seldom heard or discussing sensitive or illicit behavior. Drawing upon the experiences of four doctoral health students who are using online methods, this article discusses the value and benefits of conducting online research as well as the limitations and difficulties encountered. Consideration is given to the methodological and ethical implications of online research. Our own research leads us to reflect on participants' perceptions of what is public, preserving anonymity and protecting participants from harm

Law, Norms, Piracy and Online Anonymity – Practices of de-identification in the global file sharing community

Purpose The purpose of this study is to better understand online anonymity in the global file-sharing community in the context of social norms and copyright law. The study describes the respondents in terms of use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or similar services with respect to age, gender, geographical location, as well as analysing the correlation with file-sharing frequencies. Design/methodology/approach This study, to a large extent, collected descriptive data through a web-based survey. This was carried out in collaboration with the BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay (TPB), which allowed us to link the survey from the main logo of their site. In 72 hours, we received over 75,000 responses, providing the opportunity to compare use of anonymity services with factors of age, geographical region, file-sharing frequency, etc. Findings Overall, 17.8 per cent of the respondents used a VPN or similar service (free or paid). A core of high-frequency uploaders is more inclined to use VPNs or similar services than the average file sharer. Online anonymity practices in the file-sharing community depend on how legal and social norms correlate (more enforcement means more anonymity). Research limitations/implications The web-based survey was in English and mainly attracted visitors on The Pirate Bay’s web site. This means that it is likely that those who do not have the language skills necessary were excluded from the survey. Practical implications This study adds to the knowledge of online anonymity practices in terms of traceability and identification, and therefore describes some of the conditions for legal enforcement in a digital environment. Social implications This study adds to the knowledge of how the Internet is changing in terms of a polarization between stronger means of legally enforced identification and a growing awareness of how to be more untraceable. Originality/value The scale of the survey, with over 75,000 respondents from most parts of the world, has likely not been seen before on this topic. The descriptive study of anonymity practices in the global file-sharing community is therefore likely unique

Perceptions of online information privacy among individuals with Parkinson\u27s Disease

The growth in Internet use for health care is paralleled by the increase in chronic health conditions such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study explores the perceptions o f online privacy held by individuals with PD. Ten individuals with PD participated in hour-long, semi- structured, in-person interviews. Analysis of the transcripts yielded four major themes regarding participant perceptions: (1) online information privacy, including discussions o f private information, exceptions, and anonymity; (2) media, family, and friends as sources o f knowledge about online information safety; (3) reasons for privacy concerns, including physical vulnerability, the lack o f ‘people’ on the Internet, and attitudes toward privacy and disclosure; and, (4) non-privacy related reasons for non-use o f Internet resources. Highlighted aspects o f participant perceptions include: lack o f awareness concerning privacy legislation and online PD communities, the perceived value of online resources as factual not supportive, and inability to form bonds of trust in online relationships

The internet, virtual communities and threats to confidentiality

Objectives. To describe the role of the Internet in building virtual communities of doctors, to identify threats to privacy and confidentiality in this use of the Internet, and to suggest ways in which this threat can be managed.Summary. The Internet is revolutionising the medical profession. The doctor's role as medical expert is being challenged by patients who have immediate access to multiple sources of information about their diseases. Telemedicine makes use of the Internet to enable doctors to diagnose and ~eat patients far from their offices or hospitals. Internet list servers and chat groups gather doctors together in virtual space to exchange views on clinical and professional issues. This paper focuses on the last of these Internet applications, beginning with a description of the 'virtual community' that the list servers and chat groups constitute. It demonstrates how various Internet practices particular to virtual communities, namely registration, emaillists, and 'cookies', pose a threat to confidentiality. It discusses the conflicting values at stake, especially privacy and confidentiality on the one hand and openness and freedom on the other, and suggests how a balance between these can be achieved.Conclusions. The proposed resolutionof the value conflict necessitates the implementation of effective registration systems, including collection of participants' personal information, and the monitoring of suDmissions to the chat groups. At the same time, the privacy (anonymity) of participants is maintained, except to the monitor, and the latter can intervene to delete uncivil submissions. Participants are also protected against unauthorised use of their email addresses for advertising purposes and the like