Int. J. Electronic Governance, Vol. 11, Nos. 3/4, 2019 361 Anonymity in social networks: the case of anonymous social media Vasileios Chatzistefanou School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, G. Kranidioti Ave., 2220, Nicosia, Cyprus Email: vasileios.chatzistefanou@st.ouc.ac.cy Konstantinos Limniotis* School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, G. Kranidioti Ave., 2220, Nicosia, Cyprus Email: konstantinos.limniotis@ouc.ac.cy *Corresponding author Abstract: The anonymity provided by the so-called anonymous social networks is studied in this paper. More precisely, emphasis is given on investigating whether the underlying personal data processing in such networks may suffice to result in tracking or identification of the users. To this end, five popular anonymous smart applications are being analysed through monitoring the outgoing traffic of Android devices in real-time when using these applications, to examine which personal data - including device data - are being processed by either the anonymous networks or third parties such as library providers. The corresponding privacy policies of these applications are also examined, towards evaluating whether the information provided to the users is sufficient. Our analysis concludes that there is personal data processing in place even in such (so-called anonymous) applications which in turn implies that users anonymity cannot ensured, whilst the corresponding privacy policies may leave room for further improvement. Keywords: Android; anonymous social networks; device identifier; dynamic analysis; general data protection regulation; personal data. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Chatzistefanou, V. and Limniotis, K. (2019) ‘Anonymity in social networks: the case of anonymous social media’, Int. J. Electronic Governance, Vol. 11, Nos. 3/4, pp.361–385. Biographical notes: Vasileios Chatzistefanou received the Master degree in Information Systems security from the Open University of Cyprus in 2017. He is currently the IT manager of the Cooperative Bank of Evros, Greece. His research interests include mobile security, personal data protection and forensics. Konstantinos Limniotis is with the Dept. of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He received the PhD in Cryptography from this University in 2007. He is currently an Adjunct Faculty member at the Open University of Cyprus, as well as an ICT Auditor at the Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.