Anonymity of Individuals on the Internet - Coursework Example

Owing to the increasing significance of technology in the daily lives of mankind, many people share their personal information on the internet which can at times prove dangerous due to web hackers who can misuse the data due to immoral practices.

Anonymity helps to maintain the secrecy of an individual’s identity. This also helps to protect specific actions performed by the individuals. For instance, anonymity helps protect funds and monetary transfers made by individuals over the Internet. It has often been observed that people feel uncomfortable sharing banking or personal information on the Internet as it might hamper their interests. Anonymity is often regarded as an option that can be useful in such situations as it creates a sense of security and helps to protect privacy to a large extent. There are many negative effects of anonymity on individuals as well. To be illustrated anonymity also helps people who have malicious intentions to hamper the interests of other users and escape without being identified. It also creates a misrepresentation of the user’s profile on the internet. In the recent phenomenon, the most apparent negative effect of anonymity can be identified as cybercrime. Hence, as it can be observed from the above discussion to a certain extent, the negative impacts of anonymity tend to be stronger and more effectual than its benefits, which in turn outweigh its advantages.

The non-literate internet users have a high risk because of the increasing cybercrime, as they tend to share personal information without having proper knowledge of the website. At times, the information of those non-literate users is hacked by cybercriminals. Similarly, literate users are also badly affected by the frequent occurrences of cyber crimes. For instance, the sharing of information such as funds and bank account details by the user can also prove harmful by being affected by cyber security risks.

However, there is a higher propensity for vulnerability when the users do not recognize the use of current technologies. For instance, people, especially non-literate internet users often think that online purchasing from personal smartphones is a safe option to secure data than through public computers. As the actual trouble might be with the security policies of the website, the information can be embattled by a third party. Conversely, as many literate users know the essence of networking information through websites, they can obtain greater control to prevent cyber crimes. In recent times, many users are observed to be engaged in social sites as they tend to be adequately aware and technically proficient to protect their profiles so that they cannot be browsed by third-party users. Hence, non-literate users must be aware of the technicalities of a website before sharing their personal information.