Al Teich, Mark S. Frankel, Rob Kling and Ya-Ching Lee.
The Internet offers new opportunities for anonymous and pseudonymous communications.
Users can, for example, engage in political advocacy, receive counseling, and
perform commercial transactions without disclosing their identities. The cloak
of anonymity can also facilitate socially unacceptable or criminal activities
because of the difficulty in holding anonymous users accountable. This paper
reports the results of a conference on anonymous communication organized by
the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Among the findings
were that online anonymous communication is morally neutral; that it should
be considered a strong human and constitutional right; that online communities
should be allowed to set their own policies on the use of anonymous communication;
and that individuals should be informed about the extent to which their identity
is disclosed online. The paper discusses how anonymous communications can be
shaped by the law, education, and public awareness, and highlights the importance
of involving all affected interests in policy development.