Warning: contains spoilers for Superman: Son of Kal-El #2!
In Superman: Son of Kal-El #2, DC's new Superman just missed out on the perfect way to keep his secret identity. Jonathan Kent has been struggling with his identity, especially since taking over for his father as Superman and becoming even more defined by Clark Kent's legacy and fame. After Jon discussed his concerns about being swallowed by his heroic identity with best friend Damian Wayne, the genius Robin was able to engineer a new civilian identity for Jon to experience life without the world's expectations weighing down on him.
Jonathan is different from other heroes in that his concern in gaining a secret identity is not to protect his family or dodge accountability as a vigilante, but just to try and gain perspective on life and society as someone other than Superman's son. This is why he attempts to go undercover on his first day of college as "Finn Connors," with a blond wig and sunglasses. Sadly, when a gunman attacks his school, the new Superman's identity is immediately exposed when Jon jumps into action, revealing the costume under his street gear.
Unlike Peter Parker, the new Superman isn't hiding his identity because he fears anyone connecting him to his family or friends, but because he sometimes wants to engage with the world outside the context of his father's heroism. He would prefer to have a normal life while also fighting crime, but long before Jon took up the mantle, Superman revealed his identity as Clark Kent, exposing Lois Lane and Jon to public scrutiny like never before. In the issue, Jonathan gives up the idea of escaping the public eye with a secret identity, but his absolutist attitude blinds him to the perfect compromise.
The ex-Superboy doesn't need to pretend to be a human to go incognito, as DC's reality is full of metahumans and aliens. All he would need to do is just pretend to be another, new metahuman. If he took this approach when attending college for the first time, he could've escaped being instantly revealed as Superman even while using his powers. He could even have publicly gone to school as someone who was bulletproof. This wouldn't work for living as a normal human, but it would definitely work for living as not-Superman's-son. It's been made apparent that his main goal is to make some normal friends like any other seventeen year old would do. By not hiding his powers, but putting away his costume, the new Superman could have escaped his father's shadow. And if Jon wanted to be totally unremarkable to those around him, he could have joined the Teen Titans' Roy Harper Academy along with the new class of unknown metahumans. Keeping secrets from your new friends isn't ideal, but that's what he was planning as Finn Connors anyway.
In a world where superpowers aren't illegal and the public are totally familiar with the existence of metahumans, Jonathan can hide in plain sight while still having superpowers. With the assistance of geniuses like Batman, Robin, and Lois Lane, it's a shame Jon wasn't offered this path, especially when many characters have doubts about how becoming Superman might corrupt a person who has always known it's his role to safeguard humanity. The new Superman is a kind, intelligent hero, but as he pushes at the parameters of his father's mission like never before, it wouldn't hurt for him to have some personal relationships that didn't start with him in costume.