If you want/need to have a prominent public professional presence, and you probably do at least during the current bout of "we don't need western born devs anymore" the industry is going through, you probably need to bifurcate a patsy persona that plays by the invasive corporate internet rules for public observation and a private persona that is private and does not and just never mix the streams (two phones, dualboot, etc)
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
43 points (97.8% liked)
Privacy
42390 readers
748 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
bifurcate a patsy persona that plays by the invasive corporate internet rules for public observation and a private persona that is private and does not and just never mix the streams (two phones, dualboot, etc)
Now, none of my entrepreneurial businesses use LinkedIn, and I've never had an account there. From what I hear, LinkedIn is a pretty fucked up scene. However, sometimes one must do as the Romans do. The trick is, as you say, dividing your private life from your public/business life, and as you mentioned, never cross the streams. It's difficult because we are social animals, and it is very easy to slip and divulge info from either our private or public/business lives. Loose lips sink ships. Since my businesses doesn't require a lot of meet n' greet type affairs, it's a little easier for me.
One on my businesses deals with a branch of construction. I've found a lot of old heads with split personas. If you cold call one of them, and say you ask for 'Barney Smith'. The person will automatically assume that persona or I have been asked 'Who wants to know'. They are kind of practicing dual personas depending on their business angle which are all separate from their personal lives. It's kind of an interesting phenomenon, and it's one I've adopted.
Two valid and distinct government IDs??
If your "private" persona is uploading government IDs, you're doing it wrong.
OP is required to upload a valid government issued ID to use LinkedIn. Are you saying they should not use LinkedIn, full stop? I’m not following how you are advising them to get a job.
When they ask to see your ID, they probably also define exactly which parts of the it they want to see. If you choose to comply, you could still cover everything else from the ID card.
Ideally though, you would tell them where they can shove these requests. In reality, avoiding LI is getting a bit hard.
Not with their private persona... I am saying they should maintain a normie persona that is spied on and use that for having a public persona for professional purposes that is completely separated via a separate device/duapboot from a private persona they primarily use and observe best practices with
Which one has a legitimate government issued ID, and which does not?
Are you a bot, or just trolling or what?
I’m seriously not understanding your argument. I THINK you are trying to indicate that the secret persona is made up, and does not have any connection to the “real” person, who is the one with valid identification and employment. Which I always assumed was how we all were doing it.
I gave up on LinkedIn, and just bought a professional domain and point it at a VPS with my portfolio and proxied contact info on it. Last I was applying for jobs, employers were much more impressed by that. Your mileage may vary.
Network other companies you could work for via people, old bosses, etc that you know. Get them to put in a good word for you and then give them a call and schedule a professional interview. I did this (not in the tech sector) and bypassed all the online job hunting bullcrap. I've got a really great job now that I'm happy to be at for many years to come. I'm even using a GrapheneOS pixel tablet at work
I've never found LinkedIn useful. Indeed is fine, plus direct applications.
Don't underestimate personal connections, either. Often, it's not what you know, but who you know.
I've gotten plenty of tech jobs without LinkedIn, including one this year.
I'm in the UK, and have given up half way through a lot of applications because the software they've used for the applications process is American.
I just work a trade. Nobody is trying to network with the guy there to rewire an electrical system in a steel mill. Unless it's to poach to jump ship to a different job haha
I have the rare ability to not attach my career to my self worth. This makes it much easier for me to be happy regardless of what I do to get paid.
Honestly it sounds like you might be making things more difficult then they need to be. Does your threat model actually require you to take the actions you are taking?
What is your concern about giving your ID to LinkedIn? You mention leaks of IDs, but is that the primary reason? If leaks, what is the worst case scenario?
For me, I think of privacy in terms of other people not knowing my business, not knowing thoughts or activities I don't want them to, and not trying to unduly influence me, especially using information they may have learned about me.
LinkedIn is inherently about sharing information about yourself publicly. It's saying, "Hey, I'm {name} and I'm a {type of profession} and here are the types of work I've done previously." So to me, having to give LinkedIn my id isn't much more of a risk than the endeavor of using LinkedIn anyways. It's giving away a little personal information in order to gain personal benefit.
I've found it to be worthwhile. Since a little over ten years ago I've changed jobs twice and both were from headhunters contacting me. I've also spoke to a handful of other potential employers via headhunters. I don't think they would have found me if it weren't for my profile. So I'd say go for it.
Also for what it's worth, I don't think the "ban" is because they object to a VPN so much as people are constantly trying to create fake profiles. Asking for ID is a way to fend off inauthentic users.
Lastly, if you're not already, I'd strongly recommend participating in a professional association. Despite potential awkwardness of talking with strangers, connecting with someone face to face is a much more effective way of finding work than sending applications out into the void. You're a real person to someone when face to face and participating in activities, instead of an email that can be ignored. In the group I belong to I've seen multiple people show up looking for work and find it.