Call me pessimistic, but I do think:
Certainly, we can do a lot to have more privacy, but it is an illusion to think that we have complete control over it. Especially with social media, jobs, and today's technology.
Morality is just as much of an illusion, doesn't mean you should be allowed to smash someone's skull in with a brick. Social constructs and social contract were dreamed up by our species because they work and have utility.
So we better fucking do everything we CAN to sustain the "illusions*.
I had this argument with my boss and lost. They made all of us take photos that they posted on the company website. I said I'm working pretty hard on making myself invisible and don't appreciate being forced to out myself like this. Tough shit. My name picture and contact info are out there for all to see.
They showed you how much they value you: less than a name and photo on their website. Sorry, bruv. I wish they had respected your wishes.
What the fuck? Where are you from? That would be illegal in germany. If you don't want to be in the internet, they can't just force you.
I think this would be illegal in California too
Username checks out
My 10y reunion is coming up, and im like 99% sure that nobody will be able to find me lol.
Im not in contact with anyone, and ive even changed my name and as far as i know none of them know the new one either :')
Have your parents and siblings changed their everything as well? That's how I would try to find someone I went to school with.
I have a Google Alert set up, so I get notified in case my name pops up on the web. A month after I joined a new company, I got an alert - turned out that their internal directory page was exposed to the public web. I was pretty livid - all this time I was proud of maintaining good anonymity, looking up my name never returned anything meaningful on Google. So I complained to my boss about this, and he said it was actually a bug/misconfiguration - which they were already aware of, but didn't bother fixing it because no one complained. I was super pissed and made it very clear that it was a violation of my privacy and I wanted it taken down ASAP. Thankfully my boss was understanding and got it fixed. Then I had to report the page to Google. It took a while, but it was finally gone from the search results.
To help with this in the future, you can also create several fake results sharing your real name. Stuff like a blogger with one post not in your writing style, etc.. This will dilute searches with disinformation. Removal of real data is important, but you can also confuse anyone looking.
You could use an AI generated fake face and fake history too if your name is unique to make people think they either found the wrong person or make them unsure of the other listings mentioning you with only your name as an identifier
Calm down Dexter. We all know your secret!
In terms of online presence I think one has to be careful about becoming too private - at what point do you become so untrackable that even people you would like to find you (I.e. old friends) can't anymore.
I would fully like to erase my online presence. I dont want people seeking me out.
I have a website that shows up when someone searches my name on the internet and an email there. This way people are able to contact me and I don't have to use any spyware like Facebook.
But whether that works for you depends on your threat model, I guess.
I guess you can ask her how she managed to track you... later on do the necessary adjustments.
Anyone can be found, the only question is how much effort people are willing to put into finding them.
Can you help find Jan Marsalek?
He has been found in Russia living with a fake identity of an orthodox priest, likely facilitated by the FSB.
As the Eric Cartman of my school. I will not have this problem.
I don't understand. Are you saying you're a racist, abusive, narcissistic fuckhead? Or that you're fat?
At least she didn’t hire a private investigator.
A human hunting for you can be pretty effective.
It seems better than having the FBI track you down (not that they need too as they track all of us all the time)
Luckily I hated everyone in highschool and they never bothered me again once I left. If this has happened to me I'd have laughed in their face.
I've been told by classmates that I am on the "unable to track down" list for my school.
Well, at least you were wanted.
I'm pretty sure they called my cell all week during work hours. Place had horrible reception so if the call came through at all, i couldnt answer cause well, im at work.
But nobody ever left a message so shrug
Sucks they were able to find you this way. That's why I always use a pseudonym.
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.
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