Anonymity for writers.. "Legitimate" academic writer career?

Hi folks,

I'm really interested in doing this student researching job but want to protect my anonymity for the future of my "legitimate" academic career. Would you ever tell the site that you work through your name, the university you attended, or even your location?

I'm brand new to the game, so I'm trying to feel out how things are.
Oh, and just to be clear I don't have any qualms with the industry myself, but you must appreciate that academic institutions might be less understanding. (and YES I am crazy for thinking about pursuing an academic career!)

In order to get paid, you'd have to give them some identifying information. Also, any reputable site is going to want to know your background, particularly education, before contracting you.

There's also that pesky tax issue... make sure you are not double-taxed as a contractor if you work with a business not located in your country.

Thanks for the replies! Right...so if I want to embark on this I would have to put my name forward. Would your real name come up in a google search for instance? Maybe I'm making a big deal out of something which isn't an issue. I would LOVE to hear from anybody who is both freelance writing and pursuing an academic career!

I am done with my academic career, at least for now, but was doing this while finishing my last round of degrees. I was never worried about it--it's not something I talk about in the halls of academia, and it's not something anyone is likely to find out about without an inordinate amount of digging.

I am finishing my PhD so I try not to advertise my writing activities much. It is possible, you just need to be careful and mindful of what to disclose and where.

I suppose if you're really worried, you could get a fake name for business purposes. most essay site owners have one or three. it might be more trouble than it's worth, though, if you're a writer-- this industry is still shadowy and transitory enough. by and large, even if a paper mill has your name and digits, you're still "hiding in plain sight" to its inverse (academia).

i personally feel like it's a dangerous path, but it's not like it doesn't happen at the highest levels of society. mitt romney, dick cheney, tim geithner -- all cut-throat business people who entered the federal government.

If you follow your own Terms of Use, you have nothing to worry about.

When I was still involved in the academic writing business, I was required to sign into the Writer Profile section in order to submit "required" information.

This information involved my real name, postal address, phone and mobile number, and my sample work. Identity theft at that time was not as rampant nor invasive as it is today so I did not have any problems with the submission of those information.

It was required, according to them, for the validation of my account and Paypal related information.

I did have a problem with them later on when, I believe it was about 2 years ago, they started asking for a copy of my valid government ID such as a driver's license, professional license, passport, etc. I declined to submit any of the ID's and they eventually backed off from requiring it of their writers. It was only a few days ago that I found out the actual reason that they were asking for those ID's.

They were most likely planning on using the identity of their writers for their scam document business. I dodged a bullet that time. My friends, who still work for these companies and chose to submit their ID's, may not have been so lucky.

Only time will tell I guess. There's always hope for better times.

I would be very careful about what private documents I submit to any company for my job application. I ask my writer applicants for the most minimal documentation and rely mostly on their research and essay writing tests for their screening. If the writer is not an ENL, I require TOEFL or IELTS certifications as a part of their screening process. I do not ask for transcripts or anything like that lest I be accused of identity theft or anything similar. Any company that requires too much information from the applicant might be in the market for something else. It is important to safeguard both the applicant and the regular writer information. They both deserve data privacy protection.

I try to respect the international data privacy laws by not asking for too much information from my writers. This was back when I was still an active writer and I had a small pool of writers in my employ. I just asked for the email account related to their payment information. Other than that, all they had to do was pass the hiring test and they were on their way to becoming my colleague at work.

Which digital privacy law(s) were you concerned about as pertained to employers simply collecting and securely maintaining the ID information of their employees and contractors?