> A coupe of thoughts on the comment <<that internet itself promotes > anonymity>> that might have been the case in the early days, but as more of > our 'real lives' activity migrates online and replaces the physical world; > internet has become the 'repository' of knowledge, but also goods and > services, it's increasingly the place where 'untangle assets' get traded > and human interactions take place > (social/professional/commercial/financial/legal…). As we create our online > trail, so is our personal profile. It's just a matter of time before we > access everything about anyone with a simple email address (Google already > pulls chunks of info from linkedin twitter, quora, etc to feed your G+ ID … > and so does rapportive on email) It's already possible to spot the fake > (ID) from the real. > > More and more you see these "vetting" mechanisms use cross pollination of > personal data (i.e. signing up to Airbnb to book room with your Facebook > account or google account). As far as anonymity is concerned I think we're > beyond the 'point of no return'. This if from a North American perspective > of course, but Europe will soon join us with different levels of > implementation (the trade off is always Access vs Privacy and that's a > though sell), and so will the rest of the planet. This sounds a bit > Orwellian and a bit depressing I agree, and that's why it is SO VERY > important to get Wikipedia and sister projects to thrive and grow and be a > strong space, repository of human knowledge, human history, representing * > all* voices. >
Mostly this is just laziness. It is entirely possible, and downright easy, to be anonymous online. A significant portion of my online life is tied to an anonymous email/identity. Despite genuine and determined efforts by particularly unpleasant people this hasn't been "cracked". But this is somewhat distracting; anonymity isn't really an issue. Knowing someones name and location isn't really useful to anything - except as a threat for when they "do something wrong". I can't see how that is beneficial because all it really means is that it gives the hacks and the idiots someone to aim at. Knowing real life identities doesn't help stop harassers. The most direct harassment I have had from Wikipedia is from someone who's real name and identity is known. Tom
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