A Rose by any other name..

[Sparklelu]

So I know we have talked before about internet privacy, and what you put online is never gone, but I never really saw it as a big deal for me. I'm not hiding from the law so I figured it's ok.

Over Christmas I was tooling around the internet and I googled my name and my screen name and was startled at what I found about me!
Then I heard from a person I really would never have back in my life,who found me through a photo of me that was in an educational publication. This person was weird then and is crazy now, so to make a long story short....

I've changed my user/profile name on everyplace I can think of. Problem for me will be remembering all my different profile names!!!
I'm leaving my avatar the same so you all will know it's me! [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES](elisateach)

 

[JewelFreak]

Re: A Rose by any other name..

Elisa, thank you for telling us who you are (were). An icky situation, having somebody not-so-neat find you. Hope it hasn't been a hassle for you.

The old warning is not to put anything on the internet that you wouldn't want on the front page of the newspaper -- but the other part is stuff you didn't put up yourself. I gasped when I googled myself too -- there's my phone no., address, SSN, age, family, besides things I've written here & there. From what I've heard about Obamacare, pretty soon every doctor visit & its purpose might join all that. The web is a wonderful tool that exacts a price.

What you did is as good a way to protect yourself as there is, I imagine. The downside of the internet is that the only true protection is never to use it -- but we're still vulnerable to what others write about us. A demonstration of the fact that there is no free lunch.

--- Laurie