Imagine if you had to provide your full name, address and other personal details just to leave a comment on a blog, or access an article on a new website. Imagine if every single website that you accessed, game that you played and forum that you posted on could be traced back to you. Believe it or not, there are some parts of the world where that scenario is starting to play out.
Gamers in China are required to provide a valid Chinese ID number in order to sign up for many popular online games. People in Iran who use Internet cafes must provide their full name, national ID number, postcode and telephone number. The Internet cafe keeps a record of every action that the user takes online, and the government can request that information at any time.
When popular gaming company Blizzard considered requiring all of its users to sign up for a "Real ID", which would mean that their forum posts would be attached to their real world identity, there was a public outcry. As this shocking infographic shows, digital surveillance is just one way that the freedom of the Internet is under threat. Content filtering, website blocking, and even threats of violence and imprisonment for posting certain things online are real problems in many parts of the world.
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