Anonymity
Anonymity (from Greek, "name-less") refers to the fact that a person's identity is not known. Such a person whose identity is unknown is called anonymous.
Anonymity can have many reasons. Sometimes the information of an artist's or author's identity has not been preserved through history, although his work has. In other cases a person does not want to be known and therefore uses anonymity or pseudonymity deliberately to protect his or her privacy.
Anonymity and pseudonymity
Sometimes it is desired that a person can establish a long-term relationship (such as a reputation) with some other entity, without his/her personal identity being disclosed to that entity. In this case, it may be useful for the person to establish a unique identifier, called a pseudonym, with the other entity. Examples of pseudonyms are pen names or nicknames. Also many people chose pseudonyms as their user names (login names) to protect their privacy by not disclosing their real name. A pseudonym enables the other entity to link different messages from the same person and, thereby, the maintenance of a long-term relationship. Although typically pseudonyms do not contain personally identifying information, communication that is based on pseudonyms is often not classified as "anonymous", but as "pseudonymous" instead. Indeed, in some contexts, anonymity and pseudonymity are separate concepts.
However, in other contexts what matters is that both anonymity and pseudonymity are concepts that are, among other things, concerned with hiding a person's legal identity. In such contexts people may not distinguish between anonymity and pseudonymity.
Quote
- "Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority."
See also
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