Poor Andy Smith. As a digital security adviser at the Cabinet Office, you'd think he'd be safe offering up a bit of digital security advice at a digital security conference.

But instead, the luckless fellow now stands accused of advocating a practice that enables the abuse of children. Helen Goodman, shadow culture minister, said it was "totally outrageous" that Smith had the gall to advise attendees of the Parliament and the Internet Conference to be wary of the personal details they give out online. If a social networking site forces you to provide information you're uncomfortable about offering up – including your name and date of birth – give false information, he suggested.

I'm not sure making up data is necessarily the best advice Smith could have given, but you can see where he was coming from: if you are suspicious about why a site is asking for your details, don't give them. That's not how Goodman saw it: "It is exactly what we don't want," she told the BBC. "We want more security online. It's anonymity which facilitates cyberbullying, the abuse of children. I was genuinely shocked that a public official could say such a thing".

Of course, we all want to feel secure online, and I hope even the hardest hearts would want to end online bullying. But placing our sensitive personal details into the hands of online companies isn't going to make either of these come true. I'm not sure where her shock comes from, but her argument is misplaced.

Increased online security requires less identifying information out there, not more. While systems trying to keep data secure online have rapidly developed, it is worth remembering the history of data protection is still littered with mistakes. Even recently big, well-known companies such as Sony, LinkedIn, eHarmony and the Sun have had customer data stolen by hackers. This does suggest you should be a bit discerning about who you share your details with and how much you give out.

Worse is when you do all the hard work for the thieves. Earlier this year, a report into US identity fraud found it was on the rise, in part because of the incredible amount of personal information being shared on public social media profiles. Internet users forget we can leave a trail of information around the web that, with just a few Google searches, can build a detailed picture of us. This was brought home for me when – from just one tweet – I was able to track down the name, address, location, family members and military status of a person in nine steps. Making lots of data publicly available online will put you at a greater risk. Therefore, don't put up so much. You are under no obligation to give over your real details on signing up to a site.

While I sympathise with the concern that bullies can hide behind a pseudonym; there is a body of evidence that suggests forcing people to give over real details won't necessarily stop nasty behaviour. South Korea demonstrates that very well. In 2007, in an attempt to crack down on cyberbullying, the country required any website with over 100,000 visitors a day to ask for a real name and national ID before a user could post or upload content. This summer, the law was repealed after it was deemed unconstitutional and ineffective. Another nail in its coffin was that hackers managed to access the verification system and stole the IDs of 35 million people.

Less anonymity did not equal more security or less bullying. Rather than requiring more personal information, perhaps the answer lies in sites having a duty of care to those who experience bullying and developing systems to take action. Parents and schools also need to educate children to both the possibilities and dangers of the web – teach them how to be suspicious of anonymous accounts and how to take action against those that bully. But to conclude privacy causes bullying, as Goodman does, is to tread a dangerous path. We all have the right to privacy and there is absolutely no reason why attempts to curb cyberbullying should prevent us from maintaining that.

That's not shocking, that's just common sense.