17/05/2011

Available for over a year

Should online anonymity be allowed? Bloggers and internet commentators often use pseudonyms or no name at all, allowing them to be open about their true feelings. But there is a darker side: hiding behind a secret identity, people can behave in disruptive or even libellous ways they never would under their own names. In South Korea, following several high profile cases of online harassment, major websites are legally required to make users register with their real names. Gareth Mitchell asks Dr Youngmi Kim from Central European University in Hungary what led to this law being passed, and how successful it has been at limiting online abuse. Even in countries which do not require real names for online activity, we always leave some kind of electronic trail, so is it possible to achieve true anonymity? Filmmaker David Bond tried to go on the run from his identity for 30 days as a privacy experiment; his film Erasing David documents his experiences. There are situations where hiding your identity is vital: whistleblowers revealing corruption or citizens living in repressive regimes expressing dissent. Tools do exist to maximise anonymity and Andrew Lewman, Executive Director of one such tool, Tor, describes how it helps users to disguise their online trail.