How Far Can You Take Internet Privacy?

[Nonbeardedman]

I've always been skeptical of growing invasion of privacy by social media platforms and Google. For that reason, I'm still extremely hesitant about providing personally identifiable information on the Internet.

But I can't seem to determine whether I'm just paranoid, naive, or smart..

So far I've met three types of people when talking about remaining anonymous online:

• People who are compliant and aren't bothered about it (Will provide, images, passport photos, IDs, phone no., email, real full name, and share personal anecdotes)
• People who are mostly compliant but still skeptical (Will provide images, phone no., email, Name,)
• People who are not compliant (Will provide fake name, alt email, etc.)

I've been online since the early dawn of the internet where almost everyone of us used a pseudonym to be identified, like "TheShadowDestroyer77136", "Tommygun" etc. on forums and whatnot. There was also a certain "internet etiquette" that ought to be followed - and it seemed like everyone knew that you shouldn't post something personal online, or at least nothing of the like under your real full name.

Now, it's much more difficult remaining anonymous, given that most places NEED your phone no., email, real name etc. to just exist. Also, most people aren't bothered by it, they are saying the most absurd things under their real full name and it kinda baffles me people post such things and assume it won't catch some people's attention they may know IRL.

On top of that, I don't want to totally abandon the internet as I plan to run multiple forms of online ventures and projects.

So, here's my question: How far can I take internet privacy while running a successful business or collaborating with people on various projects on the internet? I'm aware there may be trade-offs like people may not trust me very much since I don't use my real name or image, etc. nor provide a thorough "About Me" section on any of my websites or profiles. But, is there much possibility to be anonymous without it being too inconvenient?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

P.S. till now my only ways of remaining anonymous in places where I don't want to be known is using a pseudonym and a free VPN, along with not posting something too personal under my real name - not sure how well that works tbh.