The Right to Online Identity

22 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2012 Last revised: 10 Oct 2012

See all articles by Paul A. Bernal

Paul A. Bernal

University of East Anglia (UEA) - Norwich Law School

Date Written: September 7, 2012

Abstract

If people have a right to internet access then should they have a right to an online identity? This paper will suggest that such a right should exist – and will look at the form that it might take, how it might be brought into practice, and what the implications of such a right might be in terms of the form and functions of the internet in the future. In particular, it will be suggested that the right to identity has three components: the right to create an online identity, the right to assert that online identity, and the right to protect that online identity.

Online identity needs to be looked on as something more complex than a matter of authentication of a link from an online actor to a real person – online identities are complex, multifaceted and constantly developing, and with both similarities and significant differences from ‘real-world’ identities. In order to understand how online identity should be treated from a legal perspective that complexity and those similarities and differences need to be better understood and taken properly into account.

Keywords: Internet, Identity, Rights

JEL Classification: K19

Suggested Citation

Bernal, Paul A., The Right to Online Identity (September 7, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2143138 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2143138

Paul A. Bernal (Contact Author)

University of East Anglia (UEA) - Norwich Law School ( email )

Norwich NR4 7TJ, Norfolk
United Kingdom

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