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PSA! Please don't post "harmless" tiny clues of your ID or location!!!

seaurchin said:
Err, no. Not at all! He's small, weak and hairless. No one you'd want. Really!!
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Darn.
Well ... :think: ... uhm ... :think: ... is he very old, very sick, and filthy rich? :evil2:
I'm a patient man, so I think I could work with that.

Muhahhaha.gif
 
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kenny said:
Not cool! ... so no details.
Also details might help a person with bad intentions.
All this would NOT be where I want this thread to go; I'd have to ask it to be closed.

...

BTW, what is an LLM?
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I wasn't asking you to out anyone -- I'm just not sure how I'd even know if I found someone IRL. Unless some piece of jewelry was the Rosetta Stone linking them to another forum with a name, etc.

LLM -- large language model, yes? Maybe I am using it incorrectly. (I am over 100 and live in FL, after all. Yeah that's who I am.) I just meant one of the new ChatGPT-type AIs. Not the old-school "find the difference between these two types of things" AI but rather one that is trained on a gazillion sentences and then pretends to know how to put words together to sound almost human. Although I guess that's also me.
 
Kenny's right--many members here make it easy to find their IRL identities. I've figured out a few myself, out of benign curiosity.

Possibly somebody could find me, too. I'm not sure what harm that would do me, though. I wear jewelry in public; simply mugging me (or any of the other zillion people wearing jewelry in public) would be easier than doing a lot of internet sleuthing. And when I'm not wearing my jewelry, I keep it at the bank.

I guess my posts here might make it harder for me to win an election ("The candidate spends time and money on frivolities like jewelry!"), but that's only one of a thousand reasons why I'll never win an election, starting with because I'll never run.

The biggest danger is that someone will spot me wearing my avatar cameo and recognize it. But I've deliberately worn it to events I knew PSers would be at, and nobody said hi <sob>.

In conclusion, I agree with @LilAlex.
 
Ibrakeforpossums said:
kenny, I should apologize, I think I came off as disrespectful while you're doing us a service. I have no idea how you found anyone and I'm such a Luddite I'd never understand how you did it anyway.
But, if you can locate Karl for me I'll give you a hundred dollars. I'd like to show up at his house, with a covered dish of course. (Midwest for casserole.)
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Matata said:
I hope people have their credit reports locked down. I did that to mine several years ago when one was hacked, can't remember which, Experian? Equifax?
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I froze my credit with all three bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion several years ago. I wasn't hacked, but did it just for safety reasons. I had/have no plans to borrow any money so no reason not to, and the freeze can be lifted easily if circumstances change. I just did the free, credit freeze, which means no one can access your credit report, therefore they can't get a loan or credit card in your name.
 
Lookinagain said:
I froze my credit with all three bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion several years ago. I wasn't hacked, but did it just for safety reasons. I had/have no plans to borrow any money so no reason not to, and the freeze can be lifted easily if circumstances change. I just did the free, credit freeze, which means no one can access your credit report, therefore they can't get a loan or credit card in your name.
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I believe it was Equifax that got hacked some years ago (I remember the letter) and I was PISSED! that was just straight crazy. Having had my identity stolen before I keep everything locked down as much as I can.

Heck these days if you own a house they can sometimes change the title owner (this is something that should never happen but they do)
 
glitterata said:
Kenny's right--many members here make it easy to find their IRL identities. I've figured out a few myself, out of benign curiosity.

Possibly somebody could find me, too. I'm not sure what harm that would do me, though. I wear jewelry in public; simply mugging me (or any of the other zillion people wearing jewelry in public) would be easier than doing a lot of internet sleuthing. And when I'm not wearing my jewelry, I keep it at the bank.

I guess my posts here might make it harder for me to win an election ("The candidate spends time and money on frivolities like jewelry!"), but that's only one of a thousand reasons why I'll never win an election, starting with because I'll never run.

The biggest danger is that someone will spot me wearing my avatar cameo and recognize it. But I've deliberately worn it to events I knew PSers would be at, and nobody said hi <sob>.

In conclusion, I agree with @LilAlex.
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im always on the look out for your cameo ......
but im pretty sure we do not cohabit the same part of the planet
 
on my other online home we have a non-public sub forum which is member only
that's where the personal stuff goes most of the time - like my thread when we brought our house
but my real name is well known in those parts anyway, as are many others -and i did post one of those Bernie Sanders pictures of him sitting outside our house

mind you PS has a much larger data base
so just to be clear
i have nothing PS worthy to steel !!!!
 
On the same lines, I got a email from Pricescope a couple days ago summarizing a diamond search. This is something I haven’t seen before. I clicked on the link to unsubscribe. Did I do the wrong thing?
 
Arcadian said:
I believe it was Equifax that got hacked some years ago (I remember the letter) and I was PISSED! that was just straight crazy. Having had my identity stolen before I keep everything locked down as much as I can.

Heck these days if you own a house they can sometimes change the title owner (this is something that should never happen but they do)
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It does happen. It's more common in certain states than others.
 
LilAlex said:
I wasn't asking you to out anyone -- I'm just not sure how I'd even know if I found someone IRL. Unless some piece of jewelry was the Rosetta Stone linking them to another forum with a name, etc.

LLM -- large language model, yes? Maybe I am using it incorrectly. (I am over 100 and live in FL, after all. Yeah that's who I am.) I just meant one of the new ChatGPT-type AIs. Not the old-school "find the difference between these two types of things" AI but rather one that is trained on a gazillion sentences and then pretends to know how to put words together to sound almost human. Although I guess that's also me.
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No, you are the iconic "Pedantic coastal misanthrope"! I loled out loud when I read that description.
 
kenny said:
84.png
@Sunrises Sunsets

/////// ... ??????
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Sorry about that, Kenny. I was going to point out the area of the midwest that uses "covered dish". I then decided I didn't want to accidently help out the location of this poster.

I totally agree with your assessment on how easy it is to locate some individuals and the concern isn't only about robbery. There are some very sick, dangerous people that might figure out locations for reasons other than robbery or theft.
 
Matata said:
Hackers may have stolen every Americans’ Social Security number: Report
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Now they just have to put them in the right order
 
This is a topic that I (unfortunately) have a lot of experience with, and I think it’s a very, very important reminder that the internet is forever, and people can find you easier than you think.

I had an experience on a different forum where I’d been on for a long time, I hadn’t realised how much personal information I’d given away about myself. Except one day I think I posted something that triggered a determined (and somewhat deranged) member on there to go through my previous posts. They gathered a stunning amount of information about me, and PM’d me threats with a picture of my neighbourhood just so I knew they meant business.

That was the moment I deleted everything and since then have been paranoid posting any pictures or “identifying information”. And sometimes when I post something on here I still feel momentary terror, I won’t lie, even though no one here has done anything of the sort and I doubt they would.

You just don’t know what the other person is thinking, you don’t know what they’re capable of, or their motivations. The internet is a great place until it isn’t.
 
I think there's a generational gap in this concern. I find younger generations prefer their identity to be known - or at least don't mind if it is. I think it has something to do with the social media narrative that privacy is a myth (which my friends in cybersecurity acknowledge is the case). There are a handful of people on social media whose whole shtick is figuring out who anonymous posters/commenters/people are - so I think younger people think of hiding as a futile exercise.
 
musicloveranthony said:
I think there's a generational gap in this concern. I find younger generations prefer their identity to be known - or at least don't mind if it is. I think it has something to do with the social media narrative that privacy is a myth (which my friends in cybersecurity acknowledge is the case). There are a handful of people on social media whose whole shtick is figuring out who anonymous posters/commenters/people are - so I think younger people think of hiding as a futile exercise.
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I definitely agree with this, but some are just plain foolish. Like giving out tons of personal information, including their names and home location, and then posting photos while they are on vacation...
 
AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
... I had an experience on a different forum where I’d been on for a long time, I hadn’t realised how much personal information I’d given away about myself. Except one day I think I posted something that triggered a determined (and somewhat deranged) member on there to go through my previous posts. They gathered a stunning amount of information about me, and PM’d me threats with a picture of my neighbourhood just so I knew they meant business...
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Funny you mention this.
I also considered that if PS had PM function, (I almost wrote, "If PS had PMs" - LOL) I would have PMd that member instead of starting a thread.

But IMO a PSA produced a healthy and useful thread, and thanks to @Ella for leaving it up.
We've had the gamut of responses here, from strong agreement to passionate disagreement with CAPS, not to mention that one amusing post of vitriol.
 
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Matata said:
I hope people have their credit reports locked down. I did that to mine several years ago when one was hacked, can't remember which, Experian? Equifax?
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Actually, I did this the other day. I had a letter regarding a recent credit card application for a card I already have, but I didn't apply for it! I locked all three bureaus down the same day.

Annoyingly, Experian was happy to offer a monitoring deal for 9 bucks a month. It allows you to freeze your account easily. Digging deeper in the small print, you can lock your account for free, using another had to find link.

As far as Pricescope, I am small potatoes as far as identity and things to steal, so this is not a worry for me. There are those that have jaw dropping collections that are are in a different risk band. For them, I am glad things are buttoned down.
 
AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
This is a topic that I (unfortunately) have a lot of experience with, and I think it’s a very, very important reminder that the internet is forever, and people can find you easier than you think.

I had an experience on a different forum where I’d been on for a long time, I hadn’t realised how much personal information I’d given away about myself. Except one day I think I posted something that triggered a determined (and somewhat deranged) member on there to go through my previous posts. They gathered a stunning amount of information about me, and PM’d me threats with a picture of my neighbourhood just so I knew they meant business.

That was the moment I deleted everything and since then have been paranoid posting any pictures or “identifying information”. And sometimes when I post something on here I still feel momentary terror, I won’t lie, even though no one here has done anything of the sort and I doubt they would.

You just don’t know what the other person is thinking, you don’t know what they’re capable of, or their motivations. The internet is a great place until it isn’t.
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I am so so sorry this happened to you. They stole your peace and happiness while enjoying your lovely collection.
 
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