Online identity

From Saferpedia

Online identity or internet identity is a social identity that an internet user has in online communities and web sites. Although some people like to use their real name online, some users like anonymity, choosing pseudonyms. In some online contexts including forums, instant messages and multiplayer online games users may visually represent themselves trough an avatar.

On internet people explicitly define their personality by creating online users profiles for different network services like Facebook or online dating services. Trough blogs they may express their opinions, defining their identity.

Revealing your personal identity may cause a person problems regarding its personal life. That's why people have learned to control the level of personal data revealing.

Identities defined in the online environment are not necessarily trusty. Recent studies shown that people who use online dating service have the tendency to lie more. On social networking services like Facebook there are companies that sell friends as a way to increase a users visibility.

Given the online identities flexibility, economists where surprised to see commercial sites like eBay developing so fast. When two identities under pseudonym want to realize an online transaction they face the prisoner dilemma: the transaction may be realized only if the two parts trust each other without a rational base to do so. That's why commercial sites developed systems of reputation management, like eBay system of feedback. Trough this system users may give ratings to other users they realized transactions with.

Legal aspects and security problems

Online anonymity's future depends on how identity's online management's infrastructure is developed. Law enforcements organs don't really agree with online anonymity and pseudonyms. Therefore they request an identity's online management's infrastructure that will irrevocably link online identity with the real identity. The system will be developed in tandem with a safe document of national identity. In contrast the civil online rights lawyers argue that there is no need of such system because technical solutions like reputation management system are already enough.

Online predators

An online predator is an internet user exploiting other users' vulnerability usually in financial or sexual purposes. It easy to create an online identity attractive to people and that won't associated with a predator. Happily there are ways to ensure that a person you haven't met is who she/he says it is.

The most vulnerable are children and teenagers. A predator will win a child's trust and obtain personal information in time. Usually victims don't suspect anything until it is to late.

Also see definitions:
Privacy
Identity theft

This term is in development.
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