Anonymity Online

When you browse the Internet, all your information and habits are available for analysis by the computers that enable you to access the Internet.  Administrators of networks, websites, and various resources on the Internet can analyze your browsing habits and personal information because your computer activities share all of the info either in plain language, encrypted, or as machine language.

 The Onion Router (TOR) is free software and an open network claims to defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy.  TOR bounces your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world, as an effort to prevent someone from watching your Internet connection to analyze what sites you visit and to prevent the sites you visit from learning your physical location.

The truth about online anonymity is that at this stage of the Internet game, there really is no such thing as anonymity for any machine that has ever connected to the Internet.  In order for machines to communicate with each other – and that is exactly what we are doing any time we use a machine to communicate – each machine shares and leaves behind bits that experienced computer technicians can analyze if they choose to do so.

 Even if TOR is able to completely hide your machine’s signatures and it does not, every single machine on the planet has various software programs that provide unique identifiers like fingerprints that strip away the true existence of “anonymity”.

 TOR is still a great resource for a general feeling of online anonymity, but it should never be confused with providing total online anonymity.  Creating new generic online accounts and profiles with gmail, yahoo mail, and instant messengers can also provide a feeling of online anonymity, even though it’s really just creating pseudonyms.  

 Charitable acts are often performed anonymously when the benefactors don’t want to be acknowledged.  A person that feels threatened may want to mitigate the threat with anonymity.  Criminals like to conceal their participation in crimes.  Online anonymity is an issue that will continue for as long as humans choose to communicate online. 

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References

Retrieved May 16th 2012

The Onion Router. https://www.torproject.org/

Is Anonymity Online Truly  Possible?  http://www.infosecwreck.com/is-anonymity-online-truly-possible

 Tech Weekly Podcast:  Andrew Lewman on TOR and anonymity online.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/audio/2012/apr/24/tech-weekly-podcast-tor-anonymity

 Wikipedia Anonymity.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymity

 Christopher “moot” Poole: The case for anonymity online.  http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_m00t_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online.html