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I read these questions which had great information: How can I keep my identity anonymous as a website owner/administrator? and How much can I trust Tor?, however I wonder if this is too extreme for my situation.

What I mean by this is I am not in a life or death scenario, however I want to keep my artist name anonymous. Basically, I do not want the fame that comes with the popularity of producing art people like. If I ever do "blow up," I wouldn't want someone to be able to find my identity through social media or my website, it may hurt my chances of staying anonymous. With this said, I want to know just how "lax" you can be when keeping your identity anonymous.

Here is my specific question as the last edit was too broad:

If I use my artist social media accounts, launch an artist website (which I pay through a prepaid credit/gift card), and only provide my personal name to the website provider (maybe just use my artist name?), and do all this without a live OS (and TOR/VPN), would someone still be able to find out who I am? If so, how easy would it be?

That's the basic premise of this question. I don't want to have to use a live OS because, for example, I don't know if this would even work as I would be uploading my work to the internet for my fans/following. Plus I would be using my phone often when connecting with fans which wouldn't have the live OS.

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user50178
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    This question is WAY too broad. You keep switching the focus of your question and combine it with very deep topics. Can you split this up into smaller chunks so we can tackle the meat of your issue? – schroeder Jul 03 '14 at 15:11
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    See [Law #9](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh278941.aspx). – Iszi Jul 03 '14 at 19:10
  • I think you're confusing between privacy and anonymity. As an artist, you probably do *want* to build an identity, but you just don't want that identity to be associated with your real identity. What you need in this case is to publish your materials under an alias with a publisher that respects your privacy and can advise you on how to stay private. The solution for this is not (just) technological. – Lie Ryan May 03 '15 at 14:36

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If hacking google to gather your phone details is considered a threat to your anonymity then surely the ISP logs must be also - they can relate you to your address much more so than most these other things, in which case a private VPN or TOR must be used. To be honest I would recommend TOR (browser/bundle) anyway, as it enforces the forgetful browser in case you dont remember to..

Other things to look for are GPS/camera tag information if you upload photographs - its appalling the number of site/users that don't remove this information (potentially down to GPS coordinates and time).

A virtual machine with one of the anonymity operating systems (tails or whatnot) would probably be good enough for your purposes though without being too "over the top": Tails - I know you aren't keen on the idea, but it is well suited for anonymity and will work out to be EASIER than manually ensuring these things are in place before using your identity online.

Incidentally, getting those IP logs would take a huge (bribe or) lack of security on the ISP's part or a warrant (It's a non issue with TOR though).

Registering websites and domains are more complicated, unless you can find one that accepts bitcoin payments and dont mind the hassle of that. Prepaid cards might suffice with privately registered domains. But really only you can determine the lengths you are willing to go through.

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  • Sorry for the delay... the business of life has slowed my response. – user50178 Jul 16 '14 at 01:46
  • OK, so it sounds like using Tails and connecting to the internet through TOR, along with bit coin/prepaid card would be the appropriate steps to staying anonymous. One question, however. If I am shipping items to my address and I buy them while on Tails/Tor, would that allow my address to be connected to that Tails account and possibly exposed? Or, for example, if I pay for my website domain through Tails and use my name... would that put my anonymity to risk? Maybe I would need to use a pseudo identity? Or take the risk of the domain site exposing the connection of my name and website. – user50178 Jul 16 '14 at 01:58
  • No worries.. Tails account, no. Tails stores no data, and tor connections often "reset" (on reboot, or if requested) creating different routes so these links to identity cant be made by a "regular" attacker. Shipping, of course, is an issue, and one that I dont have a solution to. Whenever you provide a shipping address you inherently leak your identity. Do the deliverer and to the seller at the very least. As for website/domain provider, some do not ask too many questions and in your case they should probably be who you approach. Always be careful what you upload though to such providers – user2867314 Jul 18 '14 at 00:24