Establish and use identities

What you should know: 

Digital identities

  • You should understand the basic concept of digital identities and be able to discuss it with participants.
  • You should make participants aware of the fact that not every identity should be trusted without verification. 
  • You should teach participants how digital identities can be verified.
  • You should be able to help participants identify the right sources for specific searches. 


What is a digital identity: 

Through the data we reveal about ourselves and the way we present it to the outside world, we also create a projection of ourselves in the digital world and in this way form our sense of identity of a second self.

The creation of our own identity already begins when we create an account and interact with others (e.g. via email). It is further consolidated as soon as we begin to publish our own information (e.g. via our own weblog) and actively participate in communities (e.g. in forums or social networks). The beautiful picture of our last holiday or our pet, the quoted sentence of our favourite author - each of these pieces of information flows into our digital identity.

Whether it's a gamer account in an online game, the profile on a dating portal, the anonymous account in an online forum - these are all identities that open up possibilities for me on the internet, and to which I don't have to directly disclose personal information.


Learning content that should be discussed:

  • Difference between friendships on the net and in real life.
  • Explanation of the term "avatar
  • Anonymity on the Internet and its advantages and disadvantages
  • Number of fake identities in social networks 


Information on this: 

  • Chapters 1.1. to 1.4. in the module Security, privacy and data protection.
  • CUMILA Wiki Exercise c1L01 - Identities on the Net
  • CUMILA Wiki Exercise c1L02 - My Data 
  • CUMILA Wiki Exercise c1L03 - Fake identities


Read the relevant chapters in the module and, if necessary, work on the exercises mentioned yourself or prepare them for your lessons.