Traceability of electronic exchanges and the law

The identification of individuals is a sine qua non for the security of exchanges on digital networks. The same applies to authentication (verification of origin) of a message or request. Indeed, in law, an act or fact must be imputable – in principle – to a specific person. The right to anonymity is therefore only enshrined in certain strictly limited hypotheses (childbirth under X, defense of freedom of expression, connection data after a time limit, "relative" anonymity of individuals who publish content on the web, etc.) [1] . It should be remembered here that the right to anonymity must be measured against the yardstick of an essential legal responsibility of the individual: that of accounting for his or her actions in the course of social life.