How secure is your user name?

[perry]

I just did something interesting. I typed in my common user names into Google and did a search.

Most people only use a few user names; and once someone knows one from one forum they can find other stuff you post in other forums.

That may or may not be important to you.

In this case, it turns out that "Perry" is very secure because there are a lot of "Perry''s" out there. I''m not saying that people cannot find my other post in other forums where I use "Perry" - it''s just they would have to dig really really hard.

My other 2 common user names came up within 10 google pages (and one of them was on the first page).

Something to think about.

Perry

 

[AprilBaby]

I am very secure. Nothing remotely related to me came up on a search!

 

[trillionaire]

I hadn''t really thought about this. I mean, obviously Trillionaire is a very safe name, but it is pretty diamond specifc in the context of PS. (see avatar) My common screen name only came up with my blog, which is ok. I mean, it''s a blog... and I haven''t used it in years. The other name I use came up with absolutely nothing.

 

[TravelingGal]

There are a ton of travelinggals on the net. Go figure.

 

[arjunajane]

not many of me around at all, obviously - however I'm only on one forum, so *shrug*..

perry, think that's concerning? try googling your real name and see what kinda crap comes up...

hence why I'm not part of social networking, I value my privacy..

 

[y2kitty]

From this you can find my LOLCATS page. Not a matter of national security.

 

[CNOS128]

There are lots of TheBigTs, but none of them is me. I''ve only ever used the name here.

 

[gemgirl]

Ditto! There seem to be a lot of gemgirls, but none of them is me. There''s even a Gemgirl (big G) who has a shop on Etsy. Who knew?

 

[MissMina]

I use different names on different forums
My user name here is my cat.
The one I have used for years is a
character in an obscure video game.
When I Google, the character is what I get

Food for thought though

 

[elrohwen]

My name is pretty unique (seems that there is a LOTR fan-fiction author with the same name, but that''s it). However, all of the links are to other forums I''m on - all animal related forums - not really a big deal.

 

[Sabine]

Interesting...this name seems pretty secure as apparently Sabine is a reference to lots of things and used in lots of company names. I also use this name with numbers after it, and that search turned up nothing as well. I have another user name on another forum (but it''s unique to that forum) and that search turns up all the posts I''ve replied in recently, which I don''t really mind as it''s a public forum and that name isn''t related to anything else.

 

[cellentani]

Thanks to my search, I now have dinner recipes for the next week and a half!

And no personal info either.

 

[bee*]

All that came up when I searched bee* was lots of articles about bees.

 

[Maisie]

Nothing for me either

 

[Ella]

Just a reminder, but for your own security and privacy if it pulls up something about your own life or yourself on another forum please do not discuss that here. There are many lurkers and it's best to protect yourself as well as you can.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

If you google Lady Disdain, you get a lot of Shakespeare quotes (no wonder!). Lady_Disdain yields a lot of users. I use this name in three forums and you can see several of my posts from those and a random comment I made on a blog. However, the Facebook and Vampire comments are certainly not mine! But no personal information, as I don''t post anything that might link to me directly (other than that I live in São Paulo, as another 18 million people).

Ella - thank you for the warning. It is easy to forget that this is a public space and that a lot of people we have never met may ve "eavesdropping".

 

[MonkeyPie]

The name MonkeyPie brings up a lot more offensive things than I would care to mention (the urban dictionary definition for one), but nothing about me!

 

[Haven]

My name is a real word so it brings up a bunch of random websites.
However, I found one user with Haven followed by my favorite number. She is a 32 year old from England, and her avatar is of a kitty who looks quite like my own, odd coincidence!

 

[that_someone_special]

<-- brought up nearly all of my posts here... lol

 

[lilyfoot]

This username is very secure, I haven''t used it on any other site.

Also, when I Googled "lilyfoot", it brings up a bunch of links about Chinese foot binding!

 

[kenny]

Zillions of kennys.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Mine generated a ton of obituaries. Lots of Mrs Mitchells have died recently, it would seem.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

edit

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I got bored after looking through 10 pages. No connection to me what so ever. Of course I do not use the user name on any other sites.

MrsM, that would have freaked me out too!

 

[radiantquest]

Well Radiantquest is secure since it didnt bring up anything besides gaming stuff and the others that I use seem to be pretty secure since nothing pertaining to me came up. Which is odd because they are first initial first name and last name. Only one place is something that I do and that is wink but when I went to the page I didnt see anything involving me.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

<~~~ only brings up what is on here

 

[Shoopy]

It is now. It was not before.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 2/24/2010 2:45:37 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
I got bored after looking through 10 pages. No connection to me what so ever. Of course I do not use the user name on any other sites.

MrsM, that would have freaked me out too!

LOL! I edited the post you're referring to because I realised it made it entirely possible to find my name, contact details and the hospital I worked in then. I read Ella's smart warning after I made that post! I can be quite dim, sometimes.

 

[princesss]

I get a lot of "And the princess''s hair was..." or "It''s the princess''s favourite..."

So I think it''s pretty secure. 15 pages of princess shenanigans was about all I could take!

 

[Lauren8211]

Everything for elledizzy is Pricescope related.

And apparently there is an elledizzy on twitter, but thats not me.