Part 1 – Introduction to Online Anonymity

Step 1: Start the session by asking participants – What does anonymity mean to them? After you’ve heard a few answers from the group, present the concept of anonymity in more detail to the group, explaining the following:
•Explain what the benefits of learning more about anonymity are, and why it can be relevant to human rights work.
•Provide examples to participants of Online data traces that could potentially identify somebody – these could include data such as a username, social media posts, devices used, locations, and other kinds of metadata;
•Talk about how anonymity can be applied in levels or layers, explaining to participants that they can anonymize either a single activity or connection, or an entire profile or user session.