Some questions about anonymity and safety...

[widget]

Hi, All: I hope this is the right place to ask...I am another jewelry/gem junkie who has freely posted pictures of my treasures here on PS and elsewhere....

Several days ago, for the first time, I googled myself and the name of my home town, and to my absolute horror, the first thing that popped up was my name, my home phone number, and a link to maps/directions on how to get to my home town!

I''ve since had that listing removed..but it sure has gotten me thinking!

Aside from being absolutely paranoid about giving out ANY personal information to persons unknown...are there any other tips on how to protect oneself and still have "fun" on talk forums and such?

My first and last name are part of my email address..is this bad?

Am I over reacting?

Any thoughts??

Thanks!
widget

 

[Jennifer5973]

Widget, I understand 100% how you feel. I have made all online names (email, ebay) just made-up names with passwords that have nothing to do with anything obvious or "real." I also made sure that the signature on my email does not list my full name--just my first.

I kind of regretted giving myself my own name here but it''s too late....I never thought I''d be so addicted to Pscope! But that''s why my I don''t post pics of myself here. I don''t think you can be too careful.

 

[strmrdr]

use a free email provider like yahoo or get a made up name email address from you isp and be carefull who you give the real info too.
There is maybe 50 people online who know my info after almost 10 years online.
And most of them I have met in person at one time or another or bought something from.

 

[Maxine]

I was searching for something that I had asked about on PS...thought I finally hit paydirt,but found my own PS thread!!! That was an eye opener!!!

So, I gues you do have to be somewhat careful......

 

[Mara]

I do think you have to be careful about giving out information, but for the most part I think people CAN find out information about you one way or another if they are looking for you (specifically by full name)...some innocuous postings on internet sites don't give them that much more information than a typical search would.

When I google my full name, nothing related to me comes up. When I Google 'Mara' and diamonds, yes I do see postings. Some of my friends, if you Google them..work related links to websites and the like come up. For years my name was linked to an old website on an old company that I no longer worked for if you googled it. There's all sorts of information out there..whether it's free or paid for, they have those paid for searches to 'find' people but they usually need your full name at least. So whether or not you chat on a board like PS with first or last name...I figure people who are REALLY diligent and dedicated will find you no matter what information you give out, to me that is a reality that everyone should be aware of. I don't use my first and last name in an email though..to me that's like handing out the info.

I'm also in sales and my information is floating around out there at any given point in time esp since I thrive off good referrals and worth of mouth and viral marketing. I think as long as you are AWARE of what is out there and that people can probably get a paid search or an investigator to find you if they *really wanted to*...being aware is part of trying to be safe. I also should add that I am paranoid in general from watching CSI and other shows, so I figure no one is ever really *safe* unfortunately.

 

[strmrdr]

If someone wants to track someone down bad enough its not that hard to do.

Back in my ircop days my record was 2 min from getting a complaint to talking to the guys boss where he worked just from an ip address and a first name.

 

[lost on 5th]

there is a good reason to be cautious online. more than most people think. as strmrdr said... it doesnt take much ....and much time to track someone down online.

however, i think most here are rather safe... and its a good forum to discuss things in. #1 benefit i see...is that most dont post a likeness of themselves online. their identity is established by the sometimes unique images (yes... mara. talking about you). i see the ring or the dog or the movie clip.... and i can recognize the person, but dont know who they are.

it would be a good idea to have your email be sans last name. same as ebay. etc.

personally, i know i can be found online easily by name. but the real me... and the title i am posting under now.... have no connection. (which is good)

also, again PS does a wonderful job in hiding your identity on this site. even if you used a real email address. from that point on, its user caution....and who you tell what too. exp. since the topic here is expensive jewelry..... keeping a disconnect between you and your posted valuables would be a good idea

 

[hoorray]

So dumb question..... I consider myself computer savvy, but am out of the loop on a lot of the newer spam/virus/identity theft things.....

When you say don''t have you name be in your email address, what is the risk? Obviously posting a last name on forums is risky,but I''m very careful about who gets what email address -- to the point of having multiple that I use for different purposes, and am VERY careful about whom I give it to etc. Is the risk just in getting on lists by giving it out or is in now in the crawlers or whatever that can pick it up even if you don''t give it out? Or even someting else?

 

[sjz]

It''s not hard to get info on people who don''t even own a computer, either. My parents don''t own a computer, and they keep citing things like privacy and security as reasons. Guess what? I found plenty of info on them on the net, even though they don''t have a computer and never have gone on line in their lives. As long as info about you is on someone''s computer, whether it is yours, your employer''s, your doctor''s, your bank''s, your credit card company''s, or whatever, it''s available to whoever wants to find it.

 

[mightyred]

I only use my name in an email address for professional emails....all others I have a free email account that I use for forums or signing up for anything - I have never had any problems (touch wood!) with that or spam.

I think this forum is fine since there isn''t much opportunity or need to divulge too much info. I think some websites like The Knot have had problems because people post pictures of their wedding invites with names and addresses or house plans with an address and that is where the unscrupulous can take advantage. I have heard one or two horror stories from that.

 

[NoonersMom]

There are two different areas to address....a) identity theft....b)stalking. As much as an identity theft is a pain, it wouldn''t be nearly as bad as someone trying to stalk you. I think everyone has given good advice. The best that you can do is be cognizant of the information you post/release online and be aware of your surroundings...both online & offline.

In my situation, I am as paranoid as it gets only because I am always afraid someone is going to break into the house while my BF is traveling. Recently, noticed a very strange situation while walking the dogs about a month ago (was walking dogs in park at 8:30 at night...it''s not a large park...only a block by block with lots of lighting. While playing in the middle of the wide open park with the dogs, some movement caught my eye. It came from a black suburban like vehicle with tinted windows....what was strange is that I saw the movement in & out of the vehicle (couldn''t see a person), but the interior light didn''t go on when the door was opened. I hurridly left the park, 10 minutes later, the vehicle was gone.

Fast forward to the early part of this week. BF & I are walking the dogs in the park, notice a man in a hooded sweatshirt (hood is up) walking around the opposite perimeter, watched & didn''t see him disappear. We played with the dogs in the center of the park, then start walking back. As we started walking back some 10 minutes later, I looked around & notice the hooded sweatshirt man start walking up the opposite side of the perimeter. I stop & watch & see that as soon as he see''s me watching him he cuts over through the middle & then to the top side of the park, basically walking parallel with us on the other side of the block. We walk the block to our house & sure enough he''s walking across the top of the block. What is weird is that he starts to come down the block, goes to one house and then a minute later makes a dash for the vehicle. The interior dome light didn''t turn on when he got in the vehicle & guess what the vehicle was? A black suburban like vehicle with tinted windows (it was dark out, I couldn''t see the specific make at the top of the block).

Talk about weird. I am a bit freaked out! I guess the point that I am making is that it''s ok to error on the side of caution when it comes to your identity & safety.

 

[Mara]

Nooners..I am a paranoid individual as well, convinced that I will end up a statistic at some point. I have great kickboxing skills and Greg says he pities anyone who tries to take me on...but you never know! There are never guarantees on safety.

We live in a transitional neighborhood with a combination of suburbia-types like us and a lower-income mix as well...we have a huge park that combos with our townhouse complex, the apt complex across the street (suburbia types) and another new townhouse complex (again suburbia types) across the way. So 3 new huge parks are now adjoined...creating a huge big park with a basketball court, and a walkway with benches and plants and stuff in the middle. Well this now invites all sorts of odd neighborhood types to come over to the park along with us and our dogs and complex kids, and hang out, drink, sleep on the benches, play basketball til wee hours, etc. We even found, GROSSEST OF GROSSES, a used condom out in the planter box yesterday with the wrapper laying not too far away! EW! I heard also there was a bunch of cops outside the other night with their lights on talking to people.

I often walk the dog outside and take her out to go to the bathroom since we don''t havea yard, but I don''t walk her at night, Greg does that--I get too creeped out being out there by myself a bit away from the house. We also have a house alarm which I always keep on, even if we are in the house during the day by ourselves. I am paranoid about locking doors, and closing windows, I think too many people make it too easy for burglaries or attacks and often think nothing can happen to them. There are no guarantees of course but I try to err on the side of caution. We also keep our patio gate locked (are one of the only ones in the 90 house complex to do this) because we had someone actually come onto the patio one night and steal a planter!! Harmless maybe, but I still felt violated to think someone had been on our patio at night while we were sleeping. Not to mention about a month after that I woke up to someone jingling the gate lock trying to get into the patio!! The lock scared him away and we have not had a repeat but I was FREAKED OUT after that!! Hence the extra precautions.

I really love our neighborhood, good and bad for the most part, but would definitely prefer to LEAVE the freaky things like random patio thefts, and the weirdos in our parks (and homeless guy sleeping on the bench) and the condom in the planter...but that is just part of our neighborhood I guess...we have to take the good with the bad. Part of why we bought was that this is a slowly up and coming area and house apprecation will be big (it has already appreciated 12% in one year) and they are doing alot of building and putting in new stores and things that cater more to our tastes than previous stores had been..etc. So we can''t wait to see how the neighborhood continues to grow and evolve...people who have been there for years are amazed at the change in just the last few years.

 

[Patty]

I just want to point out to the would-be theives out there that my diamonds are all I-1s.

 

[Bagpuss]

Well this thread piqued my curiosity, so I did a number of Internet searches on myself and I''m glad to report that I don''t exist in cyberspace, as far as I can tell!

No part of my name forms part of my email address and I never give out personal info that could lead anyone to me easily. This just seems like common sense to me. I really feel that people should be vary careful about what they say on the Internet because there some very strange people out there, not to mention criminals.

 

[lost on 5th]

just to elaborate a little more.

there is nothing wrong with having a presence on the internet. as SJZ pointed out: you dont even need a computer to have information about you found online. when looking myself up in google you can find my parents address. where i went to high school... track times.. where i went to college.. all of my college addresses... my masters thesis... where i live now, contact information, web site....resume/portfolio.. etc. and it takes a lot of effort to make these things easily found. it all leads to my professional life and real world success.

-however-

i maintain anonymity when posting on here. as most should. simply the wonderful 36 page ‘eye candy’ post could pose as a shopping list for someone with mischief on their mind [$$)] [$$)]

. imagine someone posting a beautiful collection of jewelry on here....and disclosing enough information to find their home address as well.

much like being aware of your surroundings in a park or walking your dog at night..... it is always good to be careful...and look over your shoulder when posting information up for the world to see.

so, just be cautious everyone

p.s. for general web security info.. try here

 

[strmrdr]

Welcome to my house :}
My neighbor has a few like it and works opposite shifts than I do.

 

[strmrdr]

Lots of this to go with it :}

 

[Patty]

Date: 4/1/2005 7

2:51 PM
Author: strmrdr
Welcome to my house :}
My neighbor has a few like it and works opposite shifts than I do.

I just want to mention that I''m strmrdr''s neighbor...

 

[lost on 5th]

hahaha. OH MY

well, i guess that works too

and patty.... if you hear glass breaking HIT THE DECK!!!

 

[widget]

Date: 4/1/2005 2:46:34 PM
Author: Patty
I just want to point out to the would-be theives out there that my diamonds are all I-1s.

Too funny!

widget

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/1/2005 2:46:34 PM
Author: Patty
I just want to point out to the would-be theives out there that my diamonds are all I-1s.

Patty

LOL.....make sure you have a loupe handy so you can show them theives.

 

[Patty]

Date: 4/1/2005 9:51:46 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/1/2005 2:46:34 PM
Author: Patty
I just want to point out to the would-be theives out there that my diamonds are all I-1s.

Patty

LOL.....make sure you have a loupe handy so you can show them theives.

No, Silly! I''m telling the lurking burglars not to even bother trying to track me down in my well guarded, heavily armed house!

 

[Dancing Fire]

let me introduce you to my neighbor and he don''t MISS....Do you feel lucky. Well, do ya punk?"

http://www.norcalmovies.com/DirtyHarry/dh12.jpg

 

[cflutist]

Date: 4/1/2005 9:51:46 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/1/2005 2:46:34 PM
Author: Patty
I just want to point out to the would-be theives out there that my diamonds are all I-1s.

Patty

LOL.....make sure you have a loupe handy so you can show them theives.

DF, remember ... with I1s, you don''t need a loupe

Inclusions are visible to the unaided eye. This can be thought of in a positive way too. I have an .75ct E-I1 set in a pendant. There is a colorless included crystal under a bezel facet so if you look carefully enough you can spot it. I know its there, but no one I have shown it to has spotted it without me pointing it out to them first.

 

[Maxine]

Just for "fun'' I ran a search on myself, and I came up with a page of "me''s" on one of those people-finders where they give you more info for more $$$. Some had middle name, some middle initial, all had age...........Wow....I think if someone wants to find you, they will....

 

[websailor]

Well, we have a strong Neighborhood Watch group....

At the last meeting:

Practice makes perfect:
[FONT=Verdana,]

[/FONT]

And if the light stuff doesn't work, there is the heavier stuff:

[FONT=Verdana,]

[/FONT]

Of course sometimes you need mobility:

We don't seem to be bothered with much robbery around here.....

Just kidding!!!!

I did find the Knob Creek get-togethers on this site - http://www.biggerhammer.net/ to be fascinating!

 

[perry]

If someone knows your full name they can easily find you - unless you have one of those names where there are thousands of "you" out there.

In my case, a search on my name brings up several references to credentials issued by my home state.

For example, along with a nice neighborhood watch group, and assorted "toys" loaded with hydroshock''s (I was actively stalked once and an attempt on my life was made), I am a licensed blaster. So not only do I know how to have a blast - I know how to do it legally as well...

I have also presented papers at professional conferences, and these are also found on the web.

And the combination of my first and last name is unique enough that there is only one of me in the US.

Perry is actually my name, but I don''t let that bother me as there are many Perry''s out there.

I suspose that there is enough information about me on several forums (including this one) for someone to figure out who I am and where I live. I don''t have a problem with that.

In the end, I do not worry about cyber security when posting on forums (and this is not the only forum I have posted on as ''Perry" There are 2 others).

I am not overally woried about someone finding me either. The fact is that if the Law Enforcement wanted to find you or me - all they would have to do is ask Leonid appropriately and he would have to provide the contact information. It is actaully very hard to hide and most e-mail addresses can be traced somehow.

I am very carefull about websites and passwords. I use 3 levels of passwords depending on the required security. A site such as this has a common password because there is no real damage that can be done to me. I run a small internet business on the side and have my credit card information on file at 2 sites to where orders can be placed and shipped anywhere. Those sites have the most secure passwords.

I do not store any user names or passwords for any website in my computer, No credit card information or other financial accounts in my computer, nor my name on my programs (when they ask who they are registered to I usually type in nonsence names "Trying to be free" and others).

I have to manually log into every web site I visit that requires a user name and password, and when using dial-up have to mannually log into my internet provider (DSL at home is automatic - if you can get past the password on my computer).

All this means that someone who might be able to read the files on my computer - dispite my efforts (which are really quite good - I should know if anyone gets into my computer) would not be able to get any user name / password files, or financial institution information files or account numbers. That is the best protection (and I know how easy it is to tap into most people''s computers and read such files).

Anyway, I am more woried about the local store ripping my credit card than any other scam. One of the reasons I use it so little (cash always works).

I hope this helps,

Perry

 

[lost on 5th]

ok... one last post on this topic for me. for anyone worried, you may want to do more research as far as electronic security. (because it looks like you all have the neighborhood watch thing nailed!)

PC World

reality is. there are spyware programs out there that can record every keystroke you type and relay information "home" this includes passwords and credit card numbers. the good news is most credit card companies protect your from charges that aren''t yours... and in my experiences call within an hour of irregular charges being made.

lets just say that my security levels have improved much since that fun day to everyone here....read up and be careful.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 4/3/2005 9:17:21 PM
Author: websailor
Well, we have a strong Neighborhood Watch group....

At the last meeting:

Practice makes perfect:

[FONT=Verdana,]

[/FONT]

And if the light stuff doesn't work, there is the heavier stuff:

[FONT=Verdana,]

[/FONT]


Of course sometimes you need mobility:

We don't seem to be bothered with much robbery around here.....

Just kidding!!!!



I did find the Knob Creek get-togethers on this site - http://www.biggerhammer.net/ to be fascinating!

Next spring Ill be there :}
It is awesome I have some friends that go every year.
You can actualy rent some trigger time on that quad 50 but at $2.00 a round and 1000 to 1500 RPM it gets expensive in a hurry.
They also have a mini-gun you can rent.
3500rpm.

rpm == rounds per minute.