1. A computerized method for use by an online service provider to help maintain the privacy of offline identities of online users, the method comprising: a computer system testing a proposed online identifier which is a username or an avatar, by comparing at least a portion of said proposed online identifier's content to a set of personal identification information tokens; and the computer system accepting the proposed online identifier, which satisfies a predetermined privacy criterion, the privacy criterion being defined in terms of matches to personal identification information tokens to prevent said proposed online identifier from disclosing information about the online user's offline identity.
1. A computerized method for use by an online service provider to help maintain the privacy of offline identities of online users, the method comprising: a computer system testing a proposed online identifier which is a username or an avatar, by comparing at least a portion of said proposed online identifier's content to a set of personal identification information tokens; and the computer system accepting the proposed online identifier, which satisfies a predetermined privacy criterion, the privacy criterion being defined in terms of matches to personal identification information tokens to prevent said proposed online identifier from disclosing information about the online user's offline identity. 8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising accepting the proposed online identifier from an online user before testing the proposed online identifier.