Privacy is not the same thing as anonymity. Interesting article. What are peoples thoughts. I lean towards privacy more than anonymity, though I do hate having to give personal details over the WWW if I want a service or product. Giving it to a real person makes me feel better, even though they could use said information. As for anonymity, if your use of the web is legal, why would you need it?

Matt

Very odd. The Internet is based on the illusion of anonymity. Take this forum for example, most members post under assumed names & don't reveal their true identities. It's all a mystery to me but I'm sure anyone with sufficient knowledge could easily find out who they are.

Hagar wrote on Aug 11^th, 2010 at 4:28am:

A few days ago someone mentioned they did photography, but I couldn't find a link to their website. However, I was able to find contact information on their profile, was able to find their Facebook account and from there I was able to find their photography website. I now know their real name too, if I ever need to remind them of it. It's all perfectly within all our bounds to do this, and the information is freely available.

The key is to never share a single detail. The only 'secure way' to browse, is to not browse at all.

Hagar wrote on Aug 11^th, 2010 at 3:03pm:

The government can do plenty. They can probably find out who you are from your IP address, which is only otherwise limited to your ISP (or you, if you go and announce it yourself). As for the rest of us, knowing an IP is usually as vague as knowing which country someone lives in. There used to be quite a paranoia that knowing an IP address will let the world know where you live, but my IP address would tell the world that I live in London... I even have it posted on SimV that I live in Nantwich, just to prove how inaccurate some data can be. Of course, if you're my ISP or the government, that data could easily tell you the house I live in. Should we be worried? No, not if we're sticking to the rules.

All social networking is a problem. Some people leave a status saying exactly where they are going and at what times. They probably weren't ever taught 'COMSEC'. Of course, it's entirely possible to be safe(r) online. Just use private messages to send information (unless the webmaster of said site is a stalker, you should be okay) or just don't release that information at all. It's unlikely that a webmaster would ever read private mail, except in the instance where it breaches a law/Terms of service... So it's fair safer bet than telling the whole world who you and where you live.