Anonymization Technology Takes a High Profile Neal Leavitt

C ensorship and the increased tracking of users on l i ne h a ve b e c ome important topics. Numerous governments censor computerand network-based communications to keep their citizens from freely getting news from or transmitting information to the outside world. Dissidents and everyday Internet users—as well as criminals and others who want their online identities to be secret—have turned to anonymization technology to keep from being identified. This has made the technology more important and widely used in recent years, sparking the start up of anonymization companies and the development of new techniques. “The evolving threats, the introduction of new technologies and applications, and the emergence of Internet censorship are really driving [the approach] right now,” said Lance Cottrell, the founder and chief scientist of anonymization vendor Anonymizer. “And events like the recent elections in Iran have really drawn attention to it.” In Iran, protesters against the results of the recent presidential elections fought government censorship to communicate with the outside world. Anonymization technology faces numerous challenges to increased adoption and commercial success. Moreover, the technology has generated controversy among those concerned that terrorists, pedophiles, criminals, and others could take advantage of it.