Internet
anonymity
Internet anonymity, as the name suggests deals with the Internet privacy and related issues. It is a method by which users communicate and conduct business on the Internet without revealing their real identity. It ensures full privacy and consists of the ability of a user to control what information he or she wants to reveal and who can access that information. Internet anonymity is not only about the privacy of ones' personal information but it also deals with the privacy of their computer information, location etc. In other words, use of Internet anonymity means to operate the Internet without giving any third parties the capability to track the Internet activities to personally-identifiable information of the user.
Many people are concerned about Internet anonymity and often discuss a number of risks to personal privacy. Cookies being the most common concern for the privacy risk. These are packages of text sent to a web browser by the server and then sent back as it is by the browser to that server at the time of access. It speeds up the downloading of the page as the computer accessing the page is already authenticated by the cookie. Cookies also contain personal information of the user including preferences, log-in IDs & passwords, and even credit card information. That's why cookies are considered as a privacy risk and often been disabled by many users prior to surfing the web.
The supporters of Internet anonymity believe that it is the most vital part of free speech on the net. It offers them complete freedom to fully express themselves as they want without worrying for getting discovered, tracked, ridiculed, or harassed. This is especially important for the participants of those online discussions and forums that involve personal questions or topics and where no one wants to reveal their real information. For instance, medical forums where patients are free to ask medical questions of doctors or others with similar medical afflictions are a perfect example of such anonymity. Internet anonymity is also considered necessary for transmitting information that must remain mysterious such as the reporting of illegal and criminal activities where the witness needs security.
On the other hand, the opponents say that the Internet anonymity is responsible for certain abuses and illegal activities such as spam, or unsolicited email. Although most of these spam emails are only junk mail but there have been various cases where spam has been used to communicate hate-speech, threats, and harassment. The anonymity of such spam has made it almost impossible to track back those spammers. Similarly it also protects criminals and sexual offenders who target their prey via those forums that protect the identity of all users.