The Loss of Analog Anonymity

The campaign for the right to remain anonymous on the internet has been under way for some time. Proponents of digital anonymity often point to the fact that anonymity is easily achievable in the real world by pointing to pre-digital examples, such as the publication of the Federalist Papers under a pseudonym. All digital interaction leaves traces, which makes anonymity on the internet comparatively more difficult. As Daniel Solove has pointed out, "offline, people can more easily engage in anonymous transactions. I can go to a bookstore, buy a book and pay with cash, and unless people remember my face – which is unlikely – I’ll be able to buy the book with anonymity. This means that no record linking me to the book I bought is kept." However, as digital anonymity becomes more elusive, so too does real world or "analog" anonymity.