Being Anon Information has always been a powerful tool, or weapon, throughout human history. Knowing and/or hiding information from others has been a practice to ensure personal safety since ancient times and as our level of technology rises it becomes harder and harder to keep information private. Therefore, in this modern age, an individual's right to anonymity online needs to be protected, as it’s obstruction violates a person's legal rights to privacy and threatens their online safety. In Pierce Hogan’s article “The State Of Internet Privacy In 2019”, Hogan states that “Internet privacy is the right to keep sensitive data and information produced as a result of using the web, private (BrandYourself 2019).” When the internet was created as an ultimately free service for all many companies have searched for alternate ways to make money, opposed to straight up paywalls for their basic services, and seemingly the most effective way has been providing advertising space. Many companies, including Google, have taken this advertising to new levels by forcing cookies, a small file which allows for the tracking of an individual's actions online, onto their user's computers so they can gather information to both sell to others and utilize to tailor advertisements to an individual user. Since companies like Google and Facebook gather so much information about their users the threat to these users personal information could be, on mass, compromised by hackers, like it was in 2018 when an attack by hackers on Facebook caused the exposure of nearly 50 million users personal information. Sites like Whitepages and FastPeopleSearch, personal information gathering websites, allow anyone to find out more than just basic information, like their emails, previous/current addresses, phone numbers, education history, and criminal records, about anyone just by typing in their name; although these companies are forced by law to take down this information if you make a formal request many don’t as they either don’t know how or don’t realize that these sites even exist. This information can be easily utilized by individuals like hackers, scammers, and telemarketers to more easily attempt attack or steal from users. The utilization of online anonymity can easily increase an individual user's personal safety online and offline. Obviously, if you hide basic personal information like your address or full name it will be significantly harder to be tracked down by other users, but less obviously hiding something like your country can protect people from their own government. There are many countries which would try and suppress their own citizens freedom of speech online, for example in the article “The Dangers of Anonymity on the Internet”, Ari Ezra Waldman says, “Think of the LGBTQ activists in Russia or Sudan, or the woman fighting for girls’ education in Afghanistan, or an undocumented immigrant mother highlighting the risks she takes to make a better life for her son… (The Forward 2016)” Anonymity gives these people a voice to share their experiences, ideas, and opinions without fear of backlash from their government. Unfortunately, anonymity also protects people with harmful intentions from consequences. Since their comments will likely never be tracked back to them many utilize anonymity online to threaten, insult, and attack other users; and as it’s very easy to find out someone's actual physical address these threats can quickly feel real. Although threats on an individual's safety are extremely common the likelihood of them being carried out is extremely small and coupled with the positive effects of giving people a voice online, where they might not have one offline, far outweighs the negative. With so many angles at which companies or malicious peoples can gather information about users you would think it would be difficult to stop them, you would be wrong. It is surprisingly easy to stop threats to you while online. Programs like VPNs, Virtual Private Networks, have quickly become popular among many users online, as they are easily accessible and cheap, and allows a user to, “change your IP, or, better yet, assign you a new one, usually one associated with a distant geographic location, giving you the liberty to say whatever you want on any social media platform, comments section or forum (The Benefits Of Online Anonymity).” This means that an individual can safely traverse the internet, avoiding restriction put into place by your country's government or invasive information probing by companies. Although a little harder to do, individuals can make formal requests to information gathering companies like Whitepages or FastPeopleSearch to remove information about you, which legally they have to comply with. Since many are unaware that these sites even exist, or don’t know how to make a formal request to the company, it’s not as common to see people make these requests. Many have ideas or lifestyles which they would prefer to keep private, because of there controversial nature or otherwise, and anonymity allows these users to do this. By staying anonymous online: You can be whoever you want online when you are anonymous… Some people like to keep their online life separate from their everyday reality, whether we are talking about shared hobbies and interests or activities that you don’t want everyone to know about (The Benefits Of Online Anonymity)... Many need this anonymity to express themselves without fear of personal attacks or damage to their reputation offline. Differing opinions online easily causes people to get up in arms and knowing that your personal information is private provides users relief knowing that any threats made by other users will be hollow. Although this creates a safe haven for many with negative opinions, like racists or sexists, to express their ideas without fear of repercussions, I believe it is an unavoidable consequence of the system and even if their personal information was visible most of the time what these people discuss is protected by freedom of speech. The threat that your personal information can be leaked and used against you can be a very scary, and realistic, fear in this current age, but there is hope for the future. As more people recognize the necessity and threats to online anonymity we can better protect ourselves and create laws to protect our anonymity in the future. Although it’s an uphill battle, as companies have been fighting against complete privacy online since the beginning, court cases like Sarkar vs. Doe, where in 2012 a website named PubPeer’s refused to reveal the names of anonymous reviewers online, who were going to be sued for alleged defamation, and won their court case (ACLU Wins Case Protecting Identity Of Anonymous Online Critics). This shows that there is a legal chance our online anonymity can be saved. Bibliography: Hogan, Pierce. “Pierce Hogan.” BrandYourself Blog ORM And Personal Branding, brandyourself.com/blog/privacy/the-state-of-internet-privacy/. Isaac, Mike, and Sheera Frenkel. “Facebook Security Breach Exposes Accounts of 50 Million Users.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/technology/facebook-hack-data-breach.html. 10206729271172906. “Data Privacy Concerns with Google.” Hacker Noon, Hacker Noon, 30 Mar. 2018, hackernoon.com/data-privacy-concerns-with-google-b946f2b7afea. Waldman, Ari Ezra. “The Dangers of Anonymity on the Internet.” The Forward, 10 Nov. 2016, forward.com/shma-now/tochecha-rebuke/353506/the-dangers-of-anonymity-on-the-internet/. “The Benefits Of Online Anonymity.” The VPN Lab, 20 Dec. 2016, www.thevpnlab.com/thebenefits-of-online-anonymity/. Eidelman, V. (2017, January 18). ACLU Wins Case Protecting Identity Of Anonymous Online Critics. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/internet-speech/aclu-wins-caseprotecting-identity-anonymous-online-critics Is Renewable Energy Viable? (draft) Renewable energy. Or green energy, if you prefer. Sometimes it seems like sciencefiction, and then you get giant windmills in your backyard and solar panels on the roof, and suddenly you are living in the future. If for some reason, you read the news nowadays people are still arguing over whether we should be using green energy tech and how reliable it is. A recent report by the Institute For Energy Economics And Financial Analysis (IEEFA) states that in 2019, all renewable energy technology combined (wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal) is projected to produce more electricity than coal power plants. This might be a “small step for man” situation but with similar results in Texas, green energy might get a “giant leap”. In 2016, “Renewable energy accounted for two-thirds of new power added to the world’s grid…” according to an article by Adam Vaughn. He also writes that the U.S, U.K, and India plan to grow solar quickly over the next few years. This just goes to show that renewable energy is, in fact, viable, over time of course, but viable nonetheless. The United States needs to switch over to using renewable energy technologies. A 2017 article by Benjamin Heard raised objections to whether a 100 percent renewable energy grid would be able to support the world. Tom Brown (from now, “the authors”) and others analyzed ways of bringing the cost of renewables down and increasing viability and reliability. The authors write that Heard et al. chose feasibility criteria that can be solved easily or has already been solved by other engineers. The authors argue that the real debate should be focused on “[reaching] a high share of renewables in the most cost-effective manner” (835) This, they define as “viability”. The authors say that primary energy consumption will decrease if we use renewables and that producing renewable energy does not use as much energy in mining and refining fossil fuels. Heard et al. argue that changing weather could interrupt and affect the power generation of solar and wind power plants. The authors say “This criterion should rather read ‘the time resolution should be appropriate to the size of the area being studied, the weather conditions found there”. The criteria being the variance of weather patterns in a particular area. According to Wikipedia, at the end of 2017 had a 50 gigawatt (GW) photovoltaic, or solar, capacity. Utility-scale power, which is large scale solar power plants, generated 66.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, and small scale power, such as those on houses, generated an estimated 96.1 TWh. Most of the utility-scale solar generators are located in desert areas California, Nevada, Texas, and Arizona - and generate anywhere from 200-500 megawatt-hours of electricity. The photovoltaic capacity of each state has also grown over the years. California takes the number 1 spot, with a massive rise from 2007-2015. In 2007, it had only ~320 MWh of solar capacity, and in 2015 it had an over 13,000 MWh capacity for solar generated power. The federal and city governments are also pushing for solar growth. The Department of Energy launched the SunShot Initiative in 2011, with the hopes of bringing the cost of solar down from $6/W for residential to $1.5/W over the course of 2010-2020. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation requiring California’s utilities to get 50% of their power from renewable sources. By 2018, California generated enough electricity from solar to power 6,368,607 homes. That’s 19% of the states energy needs fulfilled by solar power. (“California Solar”, SEIA) Solar power generation in California is not slowing down anytime soon, which is good, it shows that if solar can work on a state scale, it can work across the country, and eventually across the world. An argument against renewable energy tech that pops up often is that most of the ways of making green energy are intermittent or inconsistent. Wind, for example, turbines need a constant and steady wind speed to generate electricity, but it all depends on if the weather feels like it on a given day. (if only we R&D’ed weather control like I keep saying), if no one uses the electricity when generated, then it’s wasted, and if people need it when it’s not generated, then there is a shortage. Basic economics, supply, and demand, etc. Storing the excess in batteries is only viable for small communities, but storing it in other ways could be the solution. Reinventing the battery in the form of two reservoirs and set of pumps and pipes connecting the two. The electricity a wind farm generates is used to pump water into a higher reservoir, then when the city needs electricity, the water is released and a dam generates the power needed. Instead of trying to bend nature to our will, we should work with nature and use what it provides us. (Is that fantasy elf-ish enough for you?) Short story long, renewable energy is far from perfect. Hardly anything in this universe is. I think the thing people need to remember is that it takes time for things to work out, it takes time for people to work those issues out. We will eventually figure out how best to store our excess energy and use it at a later time, we will figure out how to effectively make use of all the renewable sources and combine them to make a system that produces little to no CO2. It will take time. Just as it took time to figure out how to use nuclear fusion to make energy. Like how it took decades to make cars safer for the environment and more fuel efficient. Meanwhile, you can actively change your own lifestyle in order to prepare for a future of green renewable energy, get solar panel for your own house, actively reduce energy usage or switch to energy saving devices. Convince your local governments to push green energy agendas. Run for mayor and build a wind farm yourself. Works Cited Brown, Tom W., et al. “Response to ‘Burden of Proof: A Comprehensive Review of the Feasibility of 100% Renewable-Electricity Systems.’” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 92, 2018, pp. 834–847., doi:10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.113. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032118303307 “California Solar.” SEIA, 2018, www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/california-solar Cross, Lucienne. “Renewable Energy Surpasses Coal for the First Time in U.S. History.” Inhabitat Green Design Innovation Architecture Green Building, Inhabitat, 6 May 2019, inhabitat.com/renewable-energy-surpasses-coal-for-the-first-time-in-u-s-history Elliott, Dave. “100% Renewable Electricity Is Viable – Physics World.” Physics World, IOP Publishing, 14 Nov. 2018, physicsworld.com/a/100-renewable-electricity-is-viable Pyke, Toni. “The Energy Debate: Renewable Energy Cannot Replace Fossil Fuels – DevelopmentEducation.ie.” DevelopmentEducation.ie, 12 Apr. 2017, developmenteducation.ie/feature/the-energy-debate-renewable-energy-cannot-replacefossil-fuels Vaughan, Adam. “Time to Shine: Solar Power Is Fastest-Growing Source of New Energy.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Oct. 2017, 03:00 EDT, www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/04/solar-power-renewables-internationalenergy-agency Wamsted, Dennis. “IEEFA U.S.: April Is Shaping up to Be Momentous in Transition from Coal to Renewables.” Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis, 25 Apr. 2019, ieefa.org/ieefa-u-s-april-is-shaping-up-to-be-momentous-in-transition-from-coal-torenewables Wikipedia contributors. "Solar power in the United States." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Apr. 2019. Web. 8 May. 2019.
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