there seems to be a strong cultural norm in my country against allowing lottery winners to remain anonymous…
This is not the case in Europe, where it is far more common for lottery winners to remain anonymous.
When the rules for anonymity were being drafted, was any thought given to this issue?
If a lottery organization is conducting a draw itself, and could rig the draw, publishing the winner’s identity allows people to detect fraud, e.g. if the lottery commissioner’s family members keep winning that would indicate skulduggery. I think this is the usual reason for requiring publicity. Did you have another in mind?
In the case of CEA’s lottery (and last year’s lottery), the actual draw is the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology public randomness beacon, outside of CEA’s control, which allows every participant to know whether their #s were drawn.
When the rules for anonymity were being drafted, was any thought given to this issue?
Someone raised the possibility of people who didn’t want publicity/celebrity being discouraged from making use of the option, as part of the general aim of making it usable to as many donors as possible.
If a lottery organization is conducting a draw itself, and could rig the draw, publishing the winner’s identity allows people to detect fraud, e.g. if the lottery commissioner’s family members keep winning that would indicate skulduggery. I think this is the usual reason for requiring publicity. Did you have another in mind?
In the case of CEA’s lottery (and last year’s lottery), the actual draw is the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology public randomness beacon, outside of CEA’s control, which allows every participant to know whether their #s were drawn.
Someone raised the possibility of people who didn’t want publicity/celebrity being discouraged from making use of the option, as part of the general aim of making it usable to as many donors as possible.