What to check before choosing a username for an anonymous account
A username is the entrance to an anonymous account.
Once used, it remains in posts, URLs, screenshots, search results, and quotations. Even if you change it later, the old name may remain somewhere.
It is better not to decide the username for an anonymous account based only on how it looks.
Check whether it connects to your past self, real-name accounts, hobbies, region, birthday, or email address.
Reuse is dangerous
The most dangerous pattern is reusing a name you used in the past.
If you reuse a game ID, social media ID, blog name, message-board handle, or part of an email address, past information can be found through search.
Reuse
What it connects to
Old handle
Past social media, blogs, message boards
Game ID
Friends, play history, VC (voice chat) records
Part of an email address
Registration history and leaked information
Part of a real name
You, your school, or your workplace
Old icon name
Image search and profiles
An anonymous name needs to be separated from your past self.
Do not include personal information
Do not put information that indicates you into the username.
This includes your real name, birthday, where you live, school, occupation, family names, names of shops you often visit, and favorite local words.
Information people tend to include
Risk
Birthday
Moves closer to age or identity-verification information
Region name
Reveals usual places
Occupation name
Narrows workplace candidates
School name
Reveals affiliation and age range
Family or pet name
Connects to personal accounts
Even a string that feels casual to you may be understandable to someone who knows you.
Do not put too much hobby or ideology into it
With an anonymous account, you may want to put hobbies or views into the username.
That is not bad in itself. However, if it is too specific, it narrows the image of the person. Rare hobbies, names of local groups, fields of expertise, and words close to an occupation become strong clues when combined with other posts.
Element included in the name
Caution
Rare hobby
Easier for past accounts or acquaintances to notice
Field of expertise
Occupation or affiliation may be inferred
Region name
Usual places or activity range become visible
Word close to a group name
Related people or activity area narrows
Inside term
Acquaintances understand the meaning
An anonymous name should be easy to remember, but risk is lower if it does not explain the person too much.
Search before deciding
Search a candidate name before using it.
Check where the same name or similar names appear in search engines, social media search, and image search.
However, the search itself may also be recorded by external services. Searches while logged in, searches from the real-name environment, and searches that combine unpublished unique information can become new clues. For high-risk candidate names, choose search terms and environments carefully.
Check
What to look at
Exact-match search
Whether existing accounts or past posts appear
Partial-match search
Whether similar names are close to you
Social media search
Whether same-name users or past use exist
Image search
Whether icons or names are connected to images
Other-language notation
Whether romanization, kana, or abbreviations connect
If the candidate name already connects to your past information, choose another name.
Be careful with behavior immediately after creating it
Even if you choose a name that seems low risk, correlation is created by behavior immediately after creation.
If you immediately follow acquaintances from your real-name account, write the same profile text, post the same things as the real-name side, or move back and forth at the same times, the meaning of separating the username becomes weaker.
Action immediately after creation
What happens
Caution
Follow acquaintances
Relationships become visible
Do not bring in real-name-side relationships
Write the same bio
Writing style and background overlap
Write a new one
Use the same image
Connects through image search
Use a new image
Post at the same time as the real-name side
Time correlation appears
Separate operating times
A username is an entrance.
Even if you separate the entrance, anonymity becomes weaker if the first actions create the same line as the real-name side.
Differences between platforms
How usernames are visible differs by service.
Some services change only the display name, while others leave the username in the URL. In some cases, past username change history is visible from outside, or old names remain in search results.
Item
What to check
URL
Whether the username appears in the URL
Change history
Whether past names are visible
Search results
Whether old names remain
Display name and ID
Whether the ID remains even if only the display name changes
Tagging
Whether old names remain in other people's posts
Thinking "I can change it later" is dangerous.
Choose the first name on the assumption that it will remain for a long time.
Old names remain even after changes
Even if you change a username, the old name is not always completely removed.
It can remain in other people's quotations, screenshots, search results, notifications, URLs, tagging, and archives.
Place where it remains
Reason
Caution
Search results
Reflection takes time
Do not assume it disappears immediately
Quotations and replies
It remains in other people's posts
You cannot remove it yourself
Screenshots
It is saved
It can spread later
URL
The old ID may be included
Check the service specification
Archive
Past pages are saved
A removal request may be needed
An anonymous name is not something to decide casually because it can be changed.
Think about whether it would be a problem if the first name remained for a long time.
Do not feel safe from the name alone
Even with a safe-looking username, post content can connect you.
Even if you change the name, using the same image, same writing style, same posting times, and same topics creates correlation.
Correlation other than the name
Caution
Profile image
Do not use the same image as a past account
Bio text
Do not use the same phrasing
Post content
Do not reveal too much about usual places, routines, or workplace
Posting time
Do not keep the same rhythm as the real-name account
Follow relationships
Do not connect to personal acquaintances
A username is an entrance, but it is not all of anonymity.
How to choose a candidate name
When creating a username that lowers risk, make it a string separated from your past self.
The basics are these four: do not give it too much meaning, do not include personal information, do not reuse it on other services, and search before using it.
Policy
Reason
Separate it from past IDs
Avoid connection to old accounts
Do not include personal information
Avoid inference by acquaintances or search
Do not reuse it
Avoid correlation across multiple services
Search before using it
Check collision with existing information
Assume long-term use
Old names remain even after changes
A username is the first design decision in anonymous practice.
Summary
Check the username for an anonymous account before using it.
If you reuse an old handle, game ID, part of an email address, part of a real name, region, or birthday, it connects to past information.
Check candidate names with search engines and social media search.
However, anonymity is not protected just by changing the name.
Separate images, writing style, posting times, topics, and follow relationships as well.
Even after deciding a name, periodically check which posts and images that name is becoming connected to.
Especially when anonymous activity becomes long term, the post history accumulated under that name creates a picture of the person more than the name itself does.
Related tools
Archive check
Wayback Machine
An external resource related to this article. Open it only when it fits your situation and threat model.
Why it is listed: It can help with the article topic, but it is outside Anonymity Sense and should be checked before use.