Within the last decade the Internet has developed as a phenomenon encompassing social
cultural economic and legal facets. It has become common practice to use the Internet for both
the retrieval and provision of information with the result that the Internet has become a
valuable tool in everyday life. Many Internet participants are unaware that they leave data
tracks on every website they pass surfing on the World Wide Web is far from being an anonymous
activity of no consequence. In recent years a number of networking techniques have been
initiated in order to accommodate the netizen's wish for anonymous communication and the
protection of their privacy in the online world. Anonymization explores the legal framework
developed to help protect netizens' privacy and their wish for anonymous communication over the
Internet. It debates the value in helping to protect anonymity over a network which sees an
increasing number of cybercrimes and explores governmental interventions into anonymity
requests and whether requests should only be legal if a sufficiently legitimized public
interest is given.
