Why is Protecting Online Anonymity Important and Useful

Internet is a wilderness of myriad of information floating around us.

As the percentage of the population utilizing the internet is mushrooming, so do the security risks. Hence, we must be concerned about the amount of information being shared about us.

We don’t always want a third party snooping around us and judging us on any basis.

Hence, to remove any kind of biasness, overthrow the judgemental eyes on us, and have the freedom of speech without any prying eyes on us, ONLINE ANONYMITY comes out of the shadow.

What is online anonymity?

Anonymity on the Internet involves any user interaction that shields their identity from being shared with another user or a third party.

It gives the safeguard by unbundling what’s said and who said it and by erecting a wall of ignorance between the two.

That being known now, the next question popping in our head is

Why we need online anonymity?

People often perceive anonymity as a negative element. As falling into the hands of anonymity must be because we have been engaging in nefarious or suspicious activities. In these waves of being considered ominous, its integrity gets frequently overlooked.

Anonymity untangles the inherent value from the person’s reputation saying it.

Setting an online persona is attainable because of online anonymity. This makes it easier to categorize online hobbies and personal life separately and establish online affinities for those with the same interests.

Let’s unveil the curtains to set front the benefits of online anonymity.

Liberty to say what’s in your head without being saddled over facing backlash and judgment about your personal opinions.

Online anonymity provides freedom of movement by letting users perform activities without being reckoned with or directly heeded by meddlers.

Online anonymity also plays a crucial role in freedom of expression. The fascinating thing about the Internet is that it can promptly voice those who have been silenced. This entitles them to speak without fear of repercussion.

We often find our society unduly conservative, frequently making it treacherous to make certain statements, have specific opinions, or embrace a particular lifestyle. Anonymity helps to nullify all these aspects by disguising us from the community’s eyes.

Further, anonymity is beneficial for people who want to clear their queries but are embarrassed to acknowledge they don’t know the answer and also to report prohibited activities without fear of retaliation.

Moreover, people who are toiling with mental health issues would find a safe bubble to put forward their thoughts, seek help, and be heard instead of just scummed to their inner thoughts.

We may not see it now, but we’ll find ourselves in many more of those same situations as the years go by.

With all these advantages, it’s easy to see why most Internet users value online anonymity so much.

Everything with advantages always comes with its own share of risks and disadvantages.

Masking the identity can also pave the way for people to use it unethically, including abuse, harassment, personal threats, hate speech, financial scams, illegal activity, and cyberbullying. These are are some of the most visible drawbacks to anonymity.

 People are usually attracted by the ease of avoiding responsibility and accountability for their actions that comes with anonymity.

Since anonymity aims to dilute the fear among people and, in turn, give an ample amount of confidence to speak out, it furthermore gives out the possibility of misconduct along with it. These users use anonymity as a shield for their beliefs.

Although such uses of anonymity go against the principles of ‘netiquette,’ it is still prevalent in our society.

With the need for anonymity comes protection

Our personal safety is something that is always in our minds. And we can’t afford it to be compromised due to whatever we may be doing online.

Personal data is considered among the most valuable commodities on the Internet.

Hence preserving the customer’s privacy should be the topmost concern of any company out there. Most companies often ignore this fact and even go to the lengths of exploiting the consumer’s personal data for their own benefits.

The company often believes that the more they know about the customers, the more it will help them formulate the products and show personalized advertisements to the customers to boost their sales. But the thin line between customizing the ads and exploiting the data is sometimes jumped over when customers’ data gets shared with third parties for monetizing purposes. This carries the impeccable risk of data breaching and misusing data for illegal causes.

Therefore, finding the correct balance between enabling personalized content and protecting personal data is crucial.

So, it raises a question on how to protect online anonymity?

Still, there is a possibility that the problems mentioned above could be diminished. The best way to deal with uncivilized people is to ignore them rather than eliminate the service that benefits many.

Protection from these kinds of mishaps can be ensured by taking responsibility from the customer’s side as well as from the service provider company.

Customers should not share personal information and financial info like Bank Account Details, OTP’s, Social Security Numbers, Aadhar Card, Pan Card, etc., with the anonymous person.

Companies should provide proper security to the users by taking into account the wrongdoers, taking strict actions against them, and enabling users to block and report them to have a safe and secured user-friendly environment.

Adhering to user privacy should also be acknowledged by the company by introducing end-to-end encryption of the chats and providing a 24×7 customer support team.

Our PingMe team has always been foremost in respecting users’ privacy and providing an unhindered anonymous chatting experience.

Online anonymity isn’t just for those who are up to no good. It’s vital for all of us. Whether we’re sidestepping cybercriminals, safeguarding ourselves from harassment, or dealing with a sensitive personal issue, we all benefit from being able to dwell anonymous online.