Your anonymous social media accounts could be uncovered by AI, experts warn

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It’s equally one of the internet’s greatest assets and most dangerous enablers: anonymity. From your secret Reddit account where you enthuse with others over your nichest of interests, to your “finsta”, many of us take anonymity on the internet as a given.

But your secret social media account may not be as private as you think, according to a new study. Scientists in Switzerland found artificial intelligence (AI) tools are capable of unmasking anonymous accounts at scale, revealing the true identity behind them by matching them up to their public counterparts.

The authors said their findings have “significant implications” for online privacy, warning that unless guardrails are put in place now, much of the anonymity we enjoy online may be quickly eroded.

Experts have warned AI tools could put your privacy online at risk (tippapatt – stock.adobe.com)

Those most at risk? People who leak lots of information about themselves – even over long timespans – who researchers said typically tend to be older or vulnerable people with less awareness of how to stay safe online.

Speaking to The Independent, the study’s lead author Daniel Paleka, from ETH Zurich, said their findings make it “very clear” that “if you keep posting under a pseudonym, keep quoting information about yourself,” AI tools will be able to unmask you cheaply and quickly.

Researchers built a system that used large language models (LLMs) to search the web, and treat information gathering as a “matching” exercise, using reason and evidence to pair up anonymous accounts that had publicised snippets of their real identity with that person’s public account.

Instead of using people’s genuine anonymous accounts, the team took datasets built from publicly available posts, including content from Hacker News and LinkedIn, transcripts of AI company Anthropic’s interviews with scientists on how they use AI, and Reddit accounts that were deliberately split into two anonymised halves for the…

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