Chapter 43. Anonymity
Like privacy, anonymity sounds great in theory, but nobody cares in practice. A company called Zero Knowledge learned this the hard way when it offered a cool paid service that allowed people to use the Web anonymously. It worked pretty well, but nobody cared.
There are also significant problems with anonymity, such as the lack of accountability. For example, the night before I wrote this chapter, a coworker of mine had to spend a couple of hours dealing with police because someone out there used a VOIP phone to call 911, claiming to be my coworker.
Anonymity is a great ideal, but it’s disappearing all over the place. You haven’t been able to fly without an ID for a long time, but now it appears I can’t even take Amtrak without having to show a government-issued ID. In one sense, that worries the hell out of me, but on the other hand, I do think accountability is important.
Oh, and I’ve got nothing to hide anyway….
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