International Association
for Cryptologic Research

Peer-to-peer communication systems can provide many functions, including anonymized routing of network traffic, massive parallel computing environments, and distributed storage. Anonymity refers to the state of being completely nameless, with no attached identifiers. Pseudonymity involves the use of a fictitious name that can be consistently linked to a particular user, though not necessarily to the real identity. Both provide a layer of privacy, shielding the user's true identity from public view. But we find their significations are often misunderstood. In this note, we clarify the differences between anonymity and pseudonymity. We also find the Zhong et al.'s key agreement scheme [IEEE TCC, 2022, 10(3), 1592-1603] fails to keep anonymity, not as claimed.