Abstract: In the big data era, privacy protection and identity authentication have become key challenges requiring urgent solutions. In response to these challenges, researchers have proposed a range of solutions, with anonymous credential emerging as a particularly promising approach. In this paper, we present a survey on anonymous credentials tailored for big data applications, focusing on their roles in three typical big data scenarios: IoT, blockchain, and cloud computing. The fundamental concepts of anonymous credentials are first introduced, followed by an explanation of their practical applications and benefits in the three scenarios. In IoT, anonymous credentials are applied to identity authentication and distributed management, and they also provide privacy protection for decentralized smart contracts in blockchain. In cloud computing environments, anonymous credentials significantly enhance the security of data sharing by providing fine-grained access control. Finally, suggestions for future research on anonymous credentials in the three scenarios are presented, including technology integration, computation efficiency optimization, and practical application testing, aiming to facilitate the development of a more secure and reliable digital society.