Anonymous communication policies for the Internet: Results and recommendations of the AAAS conference

The Internet offers new opportunities for anonymous and pseudonymous commun ications. Users can, for example, engage in political advocacy, receive cou nseling, and perform commercial transactions without disclosing their ident ities. The cloak of anonymity can also facilitate socially unacceptable or criminal activities because of the difficulty in holding anonymous users ac countable. This article reports the results of a conference on anonymous co mmunication organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Sc ience, Among the findings were that online anonymous communication is moral ly neutral; that it should be considered a strong human and constitutional right; that online communities should be allowed to set their own policies on the use of anonymous communication; and that individuals should be infor med about the extent to which their identity is disclosed online, The artic le discusses how anonymous communications can be shaped by the law, educati on, and public awareness, and highlights the importance of involving all af fected interests in policy development.