A hop-by-hop trust evaluation scheme (H-TEA) is disclosed that can be used to route a data packet between a set of network nodes in an identity anonymous wireless sensor network. The H-TEA scheme is a complete localized approach for each network node to determine a trustworthiness reputation of the data packet for routing without requiring a recommendation from another node or any historical information about the other node. In the H-TEA scheme, the trustworthiness reputation of the packet is evaluated based on one or more of four verification processes: a data quality verification process, a location verification process, a time verification process, and a travel direction verification process. The H-TEA scheme can be implemented to preform network data management and network data security in a wireless sensor network with a resource constraint and requires anonymity.