As stated in our FAQ, the Truth Tree has no commercial interest in your personal information. However, Remi thought it might be a good service to our users if I were to write a brief essay on the state of Internet anonymity, particularly since many of our users here have adopted anonymous or semi-anonymous aliases.

Your IP Address Identifies You

This is your IP address :

Every user has an IP address that is recorded by every web site he visits on the Worldwide Web or any newsgroup in which he posts a message. If you are using a dialup server, this IP address changes just about every time you go online. If you are using cable or DSL the IP address may be fixed or it may change every few days. But it may be possible to identify you through the IP address if someone is seriously trying.

Yes, it is possible, though inconvenient, to circumvent the IP address problem if you have the knowledge and patience to do so. I am not going to discuss how this might be done here.

What is an IP address? An IP address is simply a number such as 12.212.443.33 which identifies your country of origin, your internet service provider (ISP), and you, though your personal information is not readily available without consulting with your ISP. Should law enforcement seek your identity, they can ask the ISP for it, and you can safely assume it will be immediately given, with or without a warrant. In fact, an ISP proabably has little reason to safeguard any of your information. If pressured, they may fairly quickly cave in to any demand from any source, possibly even a convincing stranger on the telephone. ISPs are in the business to make money, not to protect you.

Those users who use broadband, and their numbers are increasing, have an IP address which does not change. They are more easily tracked than anyone else. Those users with dialup accounts change IP address with every log-in, though this offers no anonymity since Internet Providers keep logs that in some cases go back years, to the origin of the Internet itself. Many different events that happen on a computer system are logged.

Your Personal Web Site Identifies You

If you have a web site registered in your name, anyone can find the information you entered to register your web site. This includes full name, address, phone number, and email address. There is no need to contact an Internet Provider in order to discover this information. One way to get it is to go to VirtualNames.

Your Computer Holds Information About You

Web sites leave behind cookies, which are small text files, on your machine if you have this feature enabled in your browser. Most people do enable cookies because of the added convenience. If you enable cookies, the sites you visit can "recognize" you and you won't have to log in every time.

It is not difficult for a person with physical access to your computer (that is, inside your household, living with you, and able to sit down beside your PC) to determine which web sites you have visited by inspecting certain text files including the Internet cache and history log of your browser. In addition, it is a very simple matter for anyone who has access to your PC to load a Trojan Horse or virus into your PC which will then log keystrokes and mouse movements in order to siphon off your passwords and secrets. Such programs may not be detectable by your anti-virus program. For safety's sake it would be wise to assume that any activity on the Internet within recent history is stored on your PC unless you have made specific provisions to erase this information.

Recommendations

Everyone’s situation varies, but some general recommendations can be made. Do not assume that no one knows who you are. Do not assume no one can find out who you are. But of course not everyone who expresses interest in you is bad or has bad intentions. No need to be paranoid. Curiosity is a part of human nature; we are all very curious about one another. Just keep these items in mind, especially when posting messages in the public domain expressing your personality and point of view. Democracy and the free exchange of ideas are relatively new concepts in human history, and we are currently working off the rough edges.

People differ in their attitudes toward anonymity and secrecy. Perhaps Americans tend to be more open and honest about private matters than Europeans are. People who tend to be secretive, on the other hand, may appear untrustworthy because it may seem that they have something to hide. After all, in an ideal world where everyone is benevolent, there would be no reason to hide anything! But it goes without saying that the world is far from ideal. At least not yet!