My Anonymity

I must hide behind anonymity at this time. My livelihood still depends on comfortable relationships with my former employers and my former colleagues. And I do not want my sins to rain down on my children. I’ve got one in college, and one who’ll be there in a few years. I can’t afford to risk the income I need for their education.

To those who have said I or those I mention can be identified using the information I share, rest assured I am taking great pains to alter the facts necessary to make exacting identification impossible.  I could describe my experiences much more quickly if I did not need to pause to invent all this camouflage; I hope and trust it will be enough.  Those who are privy to the true facts should find in the details I provide conflicting indictments, fingers pointed at everyone, and thereby at no one.  I will thus not comment on the truth of any specific non-critical item, because doing so would remove this protection.

My approach to obfuscation in writing was influenced in part by a clever murder-mystery book I read several years ago.  The main character was trying to get away with the murder of his boss. He realized he could not count on leaving none of his own DNA at the scene of the crime, that was just not practical (and very likely was impossible).  Instead he did the easier thing, he quietly collected and then left lots of other coworkers’ DNA at the crime scene. The police were thus far less likely to find the main character’s DNA, and even if they did find his, they would have no ability to pin the crime on him.  But I won’t spoil the book by telling you how it ends.

To those who suggest my computer activities can be traced, that is vanishingly unlikely. A while ago I began to write a guide on how to have anonymous and evidenceless internet access.  None of the existing guides I found online demonstrated quite the thoroughness or paranoia I was hoping for.  Rich, a brilliantly paranoid colleague, helped me add some extra layers of protection to my approach, and I will document our combined approach in the hopes that it helps others for whom anonymity is vital.  I had originally planned to post this on Knol but their stated requirement that I provide my real name makes that impossible.  I will therefore post it on this site, as my Guide to Anonymous & Evidenceless Internet.  It may take me several weeks to complete the entire document, it is thorough, and a low priority.