Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and systems for anonymizing the identity of users of an online system. A request to interact with the online system is received from a viewing user. A determination is made whether the request is for interacting with another user of the online system. If the request is to interact with another users, the online system uses the real identity of the viewing user for the interaction. Otherwise, if the request is not for interaction with another user of the online system, the online system uses an anonymized identity of the viewing user.

Abstract: Personal data services, such as a set of Web services, are enabled that allow a user to enter personal metadata information, e.g., about likely people and/or events to be targets of a camera capture event. Then, when a user's computing device acquires such metadata, e.g., via embedded Web services software, an intelligent user interface allows the user to enter whether any of such personal metadata information pertains to any personal data, such as a video, an audio file or an image, which is captured by the user's computing device. The personal data including the metadata information can be automatically uploaded via one or more wired and/or wireless networks to a device that hosts a personal data service, which stores the personal data and associated metadata, providing for effective means to access and manage a user's personal data store.