| Privacy
and Anonymity
Sharon
Chan
Privacy is
a fundamental right for all of humanity; a right, which
can never be taken away, or can it?
Like remaining
anonymous whilst making criticisms of the government and
important people, a similar sort of anonymity should be
available for internet users, yet there is a distinct
difference in the level of anonymity [1]. For instance,
one could electronically mail an organization complaining
about their services or the lack of it and sign off as
‘Anonymous’, but get an immediate reply through their
mailbox saying: “Thank you for your complaint. Our company
greatly appreciates your feedback. Our staff will look
into the situation and reply you as soon as permitted.”
Speaking about some sort of anonymity withheld, the organisation
can simply trace back the customer and in this case, just
beware of them. For other more complicated instances,
the sender of the electronic mail might be threatened
by gangsters or even harmed. Therefore, it can be said
that privacy and anonymity should be appropriately examined
by internet users.
A few ways
of protecting one’s real identity are available to the
public users at present. Some internet servers and remailers
[1] are available to web users in public sites, enabling
the user to remain anonymous when mailing or conversing
in a chat room. Various softwares are also available to
the masses to protect themselves from hackers and outsiders
who might want to attain their information. The software
enables the user to get rid of unwanted tracks left behind
by them and also add protection to files by increasing
the security [1]. Privacy and security are now viewed
as interlinked; either of the two would lead to revealing
the users identity which may be dangerous for the user.
To eradicate
this problem, many companies are looking into developing
better, more secured websites where user can not only
retain their anonymity but also not exposed to the dangers
of harboring hackers within their own systems unknowingly.
Much work has to be put in to develop a near fool-proof
system, but until that happens, one could only be extra
careful when using the internet.
Reference:
3. Engelfriet,
A.G. (1997). Anonymity
and privacy on the Internet.
|
