Some people believe the internet as we know it is on borrowed time.
For now, you can still create anonymous email and social media accounts.
It seems like this is slowly but surely becoming more difficult and time-consuming.
For example, I recently created an instagram account, because you need to be logged in to see posts now.
They wanted my mobile number and a selfie (of me holding a piece of paper with a special code on it).
For now, you can create an online merchant website and sell just about whatever you like.
Physical items, digital products, online courses, membership-based website access, the list goes on.
A regular person can buy / offer these and more via paypal, stripe, and other platforms (for a fee).
The recent paypal 'mistake' (?) regarding fining customers for 'disinformation' raises eyebrows.
Will we soon find ourselves with fewer and fewer options for offering / buying non-PC goods and services?
In short, I'm asking: How much time do we have left?
Is the paypal thing just a distraction, part of a fear-based pysop, disgined to have a 'chilling effect'?
Do we still have years if not decades to go with the internet more or less as it exists today?
Or are we seeing the beginning of the end of the internet as we know (knew) it?
Over to you. Cheers in advance for all thoughtful responses đ
I think the time we have left for online anonymity is measured in years, but not many. I wouldn't be surprised if it's gone entirely by 2030.
I put a lot of blame on two things:
Third Party Authentication. This is where you have to receive a text in order to log in or register for a site. This instantly ties your online activity on that site to the real world by connecting it to your phone number. Most email providers and social media require this. This was done under the pretense of security, but, as always, security was never really an issue. The real reason for this is to (1) connect to you in the real world, (2) limit you to one account per person/device, and (3) provide a really easy way to lock you out forever. I couldn't tell you how many clients I've had that have to make a new email address every time they get a new phone, or who simply will never be able to apply for Social Security due to having switched phones.
Shift in online culture. We all remember when the internet was new and you never gave out your real name. Any website that asked for real information was considered scammy and you didn't create an account. Heck, you didn't even need accounts for most stuff. The people entering the internet now, and for the last 10 years or so, did not experience that. They use their real names for accounts. They assume everything requires an account (with that third party authentication). They don't hesitate at all to tie stuff to their real life.
Generation games. One reason why I believe there are stark differences culturally between generations. Children grow up in a world very different to parents, creating a divide.
Anonymity is already gone. Its not the internet alone that you have to consider. Everything is about profiles that can be linked.
Congress authorized phone carriers to sell your data. Now if you have a paid phone plan that was not in crypto you are easy to link to all number of other things on the internet. If you paid in crypto but you enter that number in anything that has an email, once again they linked you. Two factor auth is not about security its about tracking. Two factor is not even a good security method but that is a much longer discussion, hackers show new loopholes in two factor every year.
Do you have a bank account or more importantly credit card? Once again it is a simple matter to link you to basically anything once you start using it. Credit companies can freely sell you to anyone they want. The credit tracking companies link you to just about anything in life that makes you money.
If you ever clicked share phone contacts on anything they can pretty much link you by your contacts to well anything. 99% of the contacts you have are going to not even care about anonymity at all. Their treasure trove of information becomes a direct link back to you. Once they have that bit of info your privacy is basically gone.