Trust in Adherence to a Predefined Role
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Trust in Adherence to a Predefined Role

Combined Session
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 17:00—18:00
Location: AMMERSEE 1

In old Venice, upper-class citizens for centuries were used to wear masks in everyday life, not only during carnival times. One special mask and disguise, “Bauta e Tabarro”, was commonly used to go to business meetings, to friends, to lovers or to the casino without being identified.

The use of the Bauta costume was acknowledged and regulated by the government. The mask itself was standardized in a similar way to English school uniforms to be suitable even for official political events when all citizens were required to act anonymously as peers. Only legitimate Venetian citizens, which practically meant members of the Venetian gentry, had the right to use it.

It was not allowed to wear weapons along with the mask, and police had the right to enforce this ruling. So whenever you met someone wearing the mask, you could be reasonably sure that he or she was a legitimate upper-class citizen of Venice with some accountability and that he or she was unarmed. In addition to that, it was accepted by the Venetians, that every bearer of a Bauta should behave politely, friendly and with grace.   

Interestingly, with all the well-known problems of how to enforce rules when dealing with people acting anonymously, this concept worked well enough to let the Venetians stay with the concept until the culture completely changed when Venice became Austrian territory in 1797. There are no reports that show a higher crime rate resulting from the practice of allowing citizens to live and act anonymously whenever they wanted.

But what exactly was the trust framework behind concept like? Can it be compared to modern communication trust frameworks suggested for anonymous use of the internet? The key factor seems to be that the actors within the Venetian community widely accepted that switching over to anonymous mode meant taking over a predefined role with a limited choice of behavior patterns. For every bearer of a Bauta it was a point of honor to at least play the role of the ideal, civilized, charming Venetian citizen. Whoever failed to meet these expectations risked to be unmasked and to lose honor. Could this be a model for internet communities – and could this concept be mirrored by online platforms?   

Trust in Adherence to a Predefined Role
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Trust in Adherence to a Predefined Role
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Dr. Johannes Wiele
Dr. Johannes Wiele
TÜV Rheinland
Dr. Johannes Wiele works as Senior Consultant Data Protection and Compliance for TÜV Rheinland i-sec GmbH in Germany. After having studied philosophy and political science at the University of...
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