• Wired, Thursday, January 12, 2006 10:31 AM

Anonymity in the digital age can be a very powerful thing, writes Bruce Schneier of Wired. We do not have to willingly fork over our names, addresses, phone numbers to every Web site, ISP, email service provider, credit card company, or chat room that asks for it. In the digital age, the most important thing is accountability, he says. eBay is an excellent example of this: a huge auction site where millions of buyers and sellers meet, but nobody needs to know your name because of its ingenious feedback system, which lets everyone know who you've been doing business with and what they thought of the transaction. Similarly, the author argues that your name shouldn't have to appear on your credit card--as long as a trusted third party can guarantee your accountability. This so-called pseudo-anonymity is what protects people from security threats.

Read the whole story at Wired »