The youtube video that is put up on our class blog left me feeling confused. Why do they talk as if they cannot see who the person really is? Is this some sort of role playing? After a while I finally got it. The video is to show how an IRC chatroom would look like in the physical sense. Although it seems really weird to do it physically, the kind of things that happened in the video is really common in a chatroom environment, where people establish their identity be it true or false to their real self.
What is online identity? According to Wikipedia, an online identity is a social identity that network users establish in online communities such as Internet forums, MUDs, instant messaging and massively multiplayer online games. Although some people prefer to use their real names online, most users prefer to identify themselves by the means of pseudonyms, which reveal varying amounts of personally identifiable information. As other users interact with an established online identity, it acquires a reputation, which enables them to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust (Online Identity, 2007).
Behind the screen of the monitor, it is much easier and much more tempting to deceive others about who we are. There are many different types of deceptions in an online world and according to Donath (1996), there are a few ways to detect these fraudulent identity. The most basic one would be to check the person’s account name, which is usually the e-mail address. Second, the way in which the person talks, or knowing the “voice” of the person, could be an indicator to who the person is. Lastly, the signature that the person use could also be an indicator.
However, Donath (1996) said that these identity cues are not always reliable. The account names can be faked, identity claims can be false and social cues can be deliberately misleading. In a Usenet group, one of the identity deceptions that can be found are trolls. A troll is a person who deliberately gives a flaming remark and enjoys the ensuing argument after that. The second deception is category deception, where people would lie about their age, gender or their physical description. Thirdly, a costly deception would be impersonation. If the person can pass off as another, he or she could create havoc on the person’s reputation online or offline.
What is worse than all these deceptions is probably identity theft. According to Schneier (2005), identity theft is an oxymoron. Identity is not a possession that can be acquired or lost; it is not a thing at all. Someone’s identity is the one thing about a person that cannot be stolen. The real crime here is fraud; more specifically, impersonation leading to fraud. This crime involves two issues. The first is the privacy of personal data. As more information about us is collected, correlated, and sold, it becomes easier for criminals to get their hands on the data they need to commit fraud. The second is the ease in which a criminal can use personal data to commit fraud.
A few things can be done to hinder indentity theft. According to Evers (2005), experts recommend that consumers protect their personal information such as Social Security number, credit cards and their mother’s maiden name. Being careful with postal mail and shredding sensitive documents also helps.
As with millions other users, I do have an online identity too. My favourite would be the nickname r|N. It is part of my name, but could also be considered a pseudonym because it is not my full name. Furthermore, the way it is typed is part of the nickname itself. I would use this nickname in every online community that I go to, be it MSN, IRC or forums, but the nickname started with me being in IRC. I do not think that my nickname has much of a reputation, because I am not the type to go to forums to give advices and such. However, I think that what little reputation I have is gained from the IRC channels that I loved to go, such as #melayu, #seni, #9590 etc. and interacting with the people there, so others basically know me as someone who are linked or associated with these groups and channels. Furthermore, I like to think that in an online community, what they know about me is what I choose to tell them. For all they know, I could be a 15 year old guy or a 16 year old girl.
An example would be where I lied about my background, age and almost everything else except for my gender to this guy, who happened to be in the same school as me for almost two years. Of course I slipped up because nobody could keep a lie for that long and the lie was exposed. Fortunately, he found it amusing and we remained close friends. Now, no longer using IRC, and with most of these channels being empty, I bring forward that nickname and the friends I gained from those channels and use it daily on MSN or other online communities.
In IRC, it is very easy to steal someone’s identity. The job is done by simply using their nickname. This is mostly the case of impersonation but sometimes the impersonator can be caught by the different “voice” that he or she used compared to the original user of the nickname. For me, I used to authenticate my nick on the IRC. Even if he or she is not caught by anyone else, at least they would be irritated by the constant popping of words, prompting him or her to enter the password.
In conclusion, the Internet is a wonderful medium for communication and to create an identity online. However, it is also an equally wonderful medium for fraud to decept people online and steal others’ identity. Therefore, we must be careful in protecting our private information to inhibit these activities.
References:
Donath, Judith S. (1996). “Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community”. Retrieved February 23, 2007 from
http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html
Evers, Joris (2007). “Identity Theft Risk Greatest in Major Cities:. Retrieved February 23, 2007 from
http://tech.msn.com/security/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3064883>1=9132
Schneier, Bruce (2005). “Mitigating Identity Theft”. Retrieved February 23, 2007 from
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/04/mitigating_iden.html
Wikipedia (2007). “Online Identity”. Retrieved February 23, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_identity
Good discussion of your identity across social spaces on the Internet, and of how one could hijack an identity in IRC. Full grade there.