Unraveling Internet Identities: Embedding Accountability & Anonymity at the Application Layer
28 Pages Posted: 30 Apr 2012 Last revised: 16 Mar 2013
Date Written: April 26, 2012
Abstract
Both anonymity and accountability play important roles in sustaining the Internet's functionality; however, there is a common misconception that increasing the anonymity of Internet identities requires diminishing their accountability, and vice versa. This paper argues that by implementing accountability mechanisms and anonymity protections at the application layer of the Internet, rather than the network layer, it is possible to develop a variety of different types of accountable-anonymous virtual identities, tailored to meet the needs of numerous and diverse online applications. Examples are drawn from several identity mechanisms used by existing applications and general design patterns for implementing accountability are discussed, with particular emphasis on designing identity investment-privilege trade-offs, conditional anonymity schemes, and aggregated, identity management systems, as well as the role of scoped identities and linked identities in promoting online accountability.
Keywords: accountability, anonymity, virtual identities, application design, privacy, social networks, identity management, reputation systems
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