What I’d do different on the web

[kimmer]

The recent fiascos with eBay, Target, Heartbleed, etc, made me wonder what, if anything, I would do different if I were just joining the web. Assuming I had the knowledge that I now have, here’s what I’d do different.

1. I’d never, ever use my real name, or any real life nickname. I’d use funny names, nonsensical names, characters from books (but not from my favorite books), but never would my screen name say anything about the real me.
2. I wouldn’t list the town I live in, or even the area. I’d be vague about where I’m at.
3. I wouldn’t list where I was born, what town I grew up in, etc.
4. I’d never share my real birthday. I’d use a made up date, and simply make sure the year was old enough to keep me over 21 since most boards and sites require approval for minors.
5. I wouldn’t own a domain.
6. I’d get a gmail address (or any other free address) and use that for shopping, software registration, etc. No personal email there at all.
7. I’d use another gmail address for personal stuff.
8. I’d use another gmail address for joining boards, forums, yahoo groups, etc.
9. I’d be very cautious about sharing much of anything personal.
10. I’d blog for fun, but it would be very impersonal and under an assumed name.
11. Lastly, I wouldn’t join Facebook—not even for family members.

At this point, there is too much information about me out there to keep things private. I know this because a distant family member tracked me down via things on the web. Since she now follows our web site and my blog—I now no longer post on either one. Between her, and other folks who tracked me down, I’m totally creeped out and almost wish I could disappear from the web altogether.

How about the rest of you? Would you do anything different? If so, what? If not, why not?

[Paddy]

QUOTE(kimmer @ May 22 2014, 08:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The recent fiascos with eBay, Target, Heartbleed, etc, made me wonder what, if anything, I would do different if I were just joining the web. Assuming I had the knowledge that I now have, here’s what I’d do different.

1. I’d never, ever use my real name, or any real life nickname. I’d use funny names, nonsensical names, characters from books (but not from my favorite books), but never would my screen name say anything about the real me.
2. I wouldn’t list the town I live in, or even the area. I’d be vague about where I’m at.
3. I wouldn’t list where I was born, what town I grew up in, etc.
4. I’d never share my real birthday. I’d use a made up date, and simply make sure the year was old enough to keep me over 21 since most boards and sites require approval for minors.
5. I wouldn’t own a domain.
6. I’d get a gmail address (or any other free address) and use that for shopping, software registration, etc. No personal email there at all.
7. I’d use another gmail address for personal stuff.
8. I’d use another gmail address for joining boards, forums, yahoo groups, etc.
9. I’d be very cautious about sharing much of anything personal.
10. I’d blog for fun, but it would be very impersonal and under an assumed name.
11. Lastly, I wouldn’t join Facebook—not even for family members.

At this point, there is too much information about me out there to keep things private. I know this because a distant family member tracked me down via things on the web. Since she now follows our web site and my blog—I now no longer post on either one. Between her, and other folks who tracked me down, I’m totally creeped out and almost wish I could disappear from the web altogether.

How about the rest of you? Would you do anything different? If so, what? If not, why not?

I guess I'm not all that worried about it - I do take normal precautions; I don't list exactly where I live at most places online etc., don't use my "primary" email address for anything other than friends/relatives and clients - I have a raft of others I use for shopping/software registration and on forums etc. - but as for the rest, not too bothered. Of course, I rarely actually post on Facebook, and even more rarely is it anything very personal.

Then again, I don't have any relatives/friends/former acquaintances I wish couldn't find me. At least, I don't think I have.

I own many domains - most are held for clients and only one is actually "mine" and is my name, but that's because if I invent a name for my web design business that isn't my own name, I have to register it as a business in Ontario, which while not onerous, is not something I really need to do, considering that 99.9% of my business is via word of mouth.

[daryl66]

[quote name='kimmer' date='May 22 2014, 07:09 PM' post='200311']



I am in total agreement, HOWEVER, that old proverb about "barn doors, horses/cows" certainly is applicable.


Daryl

[Xairbusdriver]

I don't understand why you think gmail is any good at hiding anything from anybody. It's probably the biggest source of directed advertising and it is certainly the biggest asset Google has; your information/comments/addressees/etc. You can have your own email address (one without the lack of respect often associated with a gmail account) from whoever you get your domain name. There are also domain security services that don't list your information as the owner. Of course, you are then depending on the security of whoever that is (usually the hosting company). The key is to have as many addresses as possible, all with appropriate words that might help determine who sold it to someone else.

Blogging and Facebook, speak for themselves, which is what most of the bloggers FB people do. Why do they think anyone besides a few family/friends really want to know what they had for breakfast or what they are reading while "on the throne"?    Don't post. Problem solved. Next!

As for personal/geographical info, I'm hoping that newer users know better than that now. Of course, visiting a website will usually offer your general geographical location... VPN would help there and maybe some of your other concerns.