Anonymity and authenticity in the cloud: issues and applications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe personal privacy and data authenticity problems in the cloud and provide solutions to reduce or eliminate them.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reveals issues and applications of anonymity and authenticity in the cloud. It outlines common privacy settings of five web browsers, anonymous browsing on the Tor network and standard methods for verifying the integrity of files obtained in the cloud.Findings – Cloud computing is an emerging technology for libraries which must balance the convenience of ubiquitous access against the potential risks for loss of anonymity and authenticity.Originality/value – This article contributes to the body of literature on user privacy and data preservation in the cloud and their impact on the library community.