LLMs are getting better at unmasking people online | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can online anonymity survive generative AI? A new ETH Zurich study reveals how LLMs can automate deanonymization attacks, unmasking anonymous users in minutes at a fraction of the cost of traditional investigation.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ai-deanonymization-risks-online-anonymity-study\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LLMs are getting better at unmasking people online \"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can online anonymity survive generative AI? 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<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"26.132142857143\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"35.326633165829\">\n<p> The author of a new study told CyberScoop he’s “very worried,\u201d describing deanonymization capabilities of AI as a \u201clarge scale invasion of privacy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/88041\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online.jpg?resize=640%2C448&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg 4897w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=300,210 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=768,538 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=1024,717 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=1536,1075 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=2048,1434 2048w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=600,420 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=240,168 240w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=481,337 481w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=964,675 964w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-2.jpg?resize=1204,843 1204w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 964px) 100vw, 964px\"><figcaption> The author of a new study told CyberScoop \u201cI\u2019m very worried\u201d as he described deanonymization capabilities of AI as a \u201clarge scale invasion of privacy.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"58.642042368278\"><body readability=\"118.52657004831\"><\/p>\n<p>Can anonymity on the internet survive in the age of generative AI?<\/p>\n<p>A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2602.16800\">study<\/a> from ETH Zurich examined how Large Language Models can combine information from across the internet to identify the human behind the accounts of various online platforms.<\/p>\n<p>In the study, LLM agents were given anonymous bios based on real profiles from users on HackerNews and Reddit, and directed to scour the internet for further details in an effort to identify the users. While the results varied, the tools were able to replace \u201cin minutes what could take hours for a dedicated human investigator.\u201d For a dataset of profiles provided by AI company Anthropic, which also participated in the study, the LLM was able to correctly re-identify 9 of the 125 candidates, often by simply giving it a summary of the profile and asking to identify the user.<\/p>\n<p>Fine-tuned models identified more individuals by connecting existing information to social media profiles like LinkedIn. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe demonstrate that LLMs fundamentally change the picture, enabling fully automated deanonymization attacks that operate on unstructured text at scale,\u201d the study concludes.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Paleka, a doctoral student and one of several authors on the study, told CyberScoop that the findings indicate AI tools have made it substantially easier to identify pseudo-anonymous people online.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf your operational security requires that no one ever spend hours or days investigating who you are, this security model is now broken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>One important caveat: the people identified in the study were not high-privacy individuals seeking to limit the spread of their personal information on the internet. For ethical reasons, researchers did not test their methods on real, anonymous, or pseudoanonymous posters.<\/p>\n<p>AI tools have already been used to unmask individuals online. Last month, xAI\u2019s Grok <a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/grok-doxing-real-names-birthdates-siri-dahl\/\">revealed<\/a> an adult film actress\u2019s legal name and address, despite the individual having used a stage name since 2012. The performer, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thesiridahl\/status\/2024535876047626521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2024535876047626521%7Ctwgr%5E14cf2da628b86796699e23c54c2207c13756619e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2Fsiri-dahl-doxxed-by-grok\">addressing Grok<\/a> directly on X, said her legal name only became public after the AI tool had \u201cdoxxed\u201d her, and that her private information had since \u201cbeen proliferated all over the internet by other AI scrapers.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While law enforcement and intelligence analysts have long combined the internet and other open source data to identify users, LLMs can do so much faster and at a much lower cost. Investigations that would normally require hiring a private investigator or law firm can now be conducted at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Paleka said some fundamental tasks, like scouring through a person\u2019s online footprint to identify any sign of nationality, location or place of employment, can now be done by LLMs in \u201cfive seconds\u201d and for pennies in inference costs.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, Paleka said \u201cI\u2019m very worried\u201d as he described LLMs deanonymization capabilities as a \u201clarge scale invasion of privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t generally think that AI should limit their users \u2026this is one of those cases where your freedom stops where the other person\u2019s freedom [begins],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The study indicates that AI tools could reshape privacy online, with <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/state-hackers-using-gemini-google-ai\/\">governments<\/a>, law enforcement, the <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ai-deepfakes-causing-big-problems-in-the-legal-sector-aba-report\/\">legal industry<\/a>, advertisers, <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/new-legislation-targets-scammers-that-use-ai-to-deceive\/\">scammers<\/a> and cybercriminals all using similar tools. In repressive nations, it could present greater challenges to dissidents, human rights activists, journalists and others who rely on anonymity or pseudo-anonymity to operate safely.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jacob Hoffman-Andrews, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the study \u201cdoes definitely indicate the degree to which posting even a small amount of identifying information \u2013 in contexts where you might not imagine anyone is trying to unmask you \u2013 might result in somebody linking that identity anyhow\u201d through LLMs.<\/p>\n<p>Posting even innocuous personal details, or under the same account for a long period of time, can make it easier for an AI tool to correlate one account with others, and eventually, your real identity. Large language models excel at summarizing documents and information. They also \u201cwork fast and don\u2019t get bored,\u201d Hoffman-Andrews said, making them ideal for internet sleuthing. <\/p>\n<p>Paleka said companies providing insurance or background check services would likely have a keen interest in deanonymization technology, and Hoffman-Andrews said it was easy to imagine AI companies attempting to turn the capabilities into a standalone product at some point. <\/p>\n<p>The long-term impact is likely to be an internet where staying anonymous is \u2013 for better or worse \u2013 far more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of value to being pseudo anonymous on the internet, and there are a lot of people who want to maintain [that] for a wide variety of reasons and they shouldn\u2019t all need to be experts in how to avoid a really dedicated adversary \u2013 as effectively an LLM is,\u201d Hoffman-Andrews said.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.5379061371841\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. 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{"id":8400,"date":"2026-03-04T14:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=88041"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:56:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:56:00","slug":"llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/llms-are-getting-better-at-unmasking-people-online\/","title":{"rendered":"LLMs are getting better at unmasking people online\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"