These both are related to the information. The information about someone’s identity is available or not. Many people are quite sensitive about their presence. Mainly these words are commonly used in the articles or the case study of criminal cases. It is also seen in the names of the book writers.
Mainly people take these words as synonyms. Thus, uses them for the same meaning while they both differ in meaning and are not synonyms (the words that have the same meaning).
Anonymity vs Confidentiality
The main difference between Anonymity and Confidentiality is that the data or information about a person is not available in Anonymity, while in Confidentiality, the persons’ data is kept secret. Some people are very sensitive regarding their identity and also don’t want a connection with the situation or data. Therefore, they keep their identity anonymous. In Confidential, the data is available, but the information is kept hidden because of several reasons.
Anonymity is when the person doesn’t disclose their identity and doesn’t show any real connection with the situation. As many writers don’t show the necessity of using their real names with the books or articles they publish. They name their articles anonymous or nameless.
Confidentiality is for hidden information. They have a connection with the situation, but it is hidden. The people who are closely related know the connection. We can also refer to it as that they hide their identity in public. The writers who publish their only pen names, which are different from the real names, fall into this category. The publishers and editors know the true name and identity of such writers.
Comparison Table Between Anonymity and Confidentiality
| Parameters of Comparison | Anonymity | Confidentiality |
| Meaning | Anonymity means keeping their personality hidden from everyone and not showing direct connections with the information. | Confidentiality means keeping the data of the person hidden from the public. |
| Connections | The connections are not direct. | The connections are direct and known to the important people. |
| Main Reasons | Anonymity is a personal choice. | Confidentiality is a professional obligation. |
| Relativity | The anonymous person doesn’t show any relation with the information or the data. | In Confidentiality, the person shows a relation with the information or the data. |
| Policies | It is a personal decision. Thus, doesn’t have any legal policies. | It is an agreement-based work and follows a legal procedure. |
| Type of Researches | It is mostly used in quantitative studies. | It is mostly used in both quantitative and qualitative studies. |
| Data Acess | The public is not allowed to access the data. | The unauthorized people are not allowed to access the data. |
| Examples | If a person provides a piece of information about a crime using the mail with another name and doesn’t provide its real information then that person is called anonymous. | If a person takes part in the survey then the name and other data of the person is kept confidential from others. |
What is Anonymity?
Anonymity is used for the information in which the name of the provider is nameless. The reason behind being anonymous is that person is insecure about their personality. Many personal reasons are attached to this. They never show the direct connections with the data. Even the people who are authorized and provided the information don’t know regarding the data provider.
Many writers and spies keep their identities secret. The writers keep their stories, poems, or writing pieces nameless. This anonymous took away the authority from the writer to claim it as his/her. Any person can take the data and name it as their own. This also leads to legal disputes.
Anonymity is many times seen on the Radios when people tell regarding something or share their view. In these cases, many times, people are using the wrong names. This is when the person, even after the involvement, doesn’t directly show their participation. Even in a Newspaper under many articles, it is written Anonymous that shows that they don’t know about the real writer of the article.
What is Confidentiality?
Confidentiality is the situation in which the data of the person is kept hidden from the public. The main reason behind keeping the identity Confidential can be either be requested by the person or of professional obligations. They have direct connections with the information but are disclosed only before the main staff.
Criminal cases or any sexual assault cases usually follow these policies. In these types of situations, to save the victims or witnesses from the criticism or assault there, identity is hidden. The officials who are involved with the case usually know the whole information.
The Radios and Newspaper also have a Confidentiality policy to protect their sources. Many times in sensitive information, they use the phrases “provided by our sources.” This is the way by which they hide the identity of their source.
Main Differences Between Anonymity and Confidentiality
Conclusion
Anonymity and Confidentiality both the information are in which the information of the person is not given to the public that’s why they are misinterpreted are same. While they are both different on one basis. The identity of the person who is providing the information.
Anonymity identity is not known to anyone, and Confidentiality information is known to the involved persons. Confidentiality is mandatory in some cases. The researches, surveys, criminal cases, and sexual assault cases are the ones where it is mandatory for protecting others.
References
ncG1vNJzZmiZo6Cur8XDop2fnaKau6SxjZympmeUnrOnsdGepZydXZeytcPEnqVmmZ6ku7q5yK2wZpmemXqku82foJ2dnqm2orjIrbBo