RCBH928 wrote:I share a lot with you. I don't want any one to type in my name in Google and have record of my life.
I almost never use my real name online. Like you I try to use duckduckgo. I stay off social networks mostly and never have my picture online.
You can't have 0 trace, but you can keep public info to a minimum.
Now that I do, and not just name, but also picture. You won't find an image of me anywhere as I wouldn't allow it in the 90s through today. Even though I have a locked down facebook(ugh) account the only photo of me on it is a cartoon one an online friend drew around 7+ years ago and it's good enough.
You can't vanish that's the problem. Ever have a public phone, own some property? You'll find your name on google, even if the site is assuming among names, you'll find you in the mix and it's annoying and pathetic.
The ironic thing is growing up and being some kind of "outcast" child that enjoyed the evil world of videogaming and I'm sure myself along with most here had all these crazy rules about time limits for TV/computer usage, or got grounded and systems taken away for months on end. Fast forward to now and while my parents aren't as tech savy as I am, they are easily more suckered into the digital era and social media than I ever was. Can I ground my parents from FB? Please!
Another thing about family that boils my piss a little is how personal it gets when I don't respond to a text or get back to them fast enough in time. I don't know about you guys but I don't even care about phones much, other than using them for music or whatever at work and doing stuff while taking a fat dump. But beyond that, when I come home I plug my phone in to charge, and 9 times out of 10 it's on mute or vibrate and I'm simply never going to see it again until the next day. And I like that, I don't need that crap by my side when I'm at home. It's a bother and distraction that I don't care about. I have described this entirely to most of my family and some of them simply don't get it.
Avoiding social media and things thesedays is nearly impossible and I think it's crazy to go to extremes with it, but whatever makes you happy. I have a FB and that's about it. I think I signed up for twitter so this one site would pull my avatar from it, not even sure where that was now. No instagram, snapchat, etc all that other junk. Forget it.
Cell phones are a double edged sword. In many ways I wish I wasn't growing up my young adult life in this era. I was pretty reserved in the early schooldays and as I became more extroverted over the years, the entire world around me shifted into seclusion being sucked into their phones. It's really disturbing to think about sometimes.
Xeogred wrote:The ironic thing is growing up and being some kind of "outcast" child that enjoyed the evil world of videogaming and I'm sure myself along with most here had all these crazy rules about time limits for TV/computer usage, or got grounded and systems taken away for months on end. Fast forward to now and while my parents aren't as tech savy as I am, they are easily more suckered into the digital era and social media than I ever was. Can I ground my parents from FB? Please!
RCBH928 wrote:What worries me is if you stay off the social networks and use stuff like VPN it will raise red-flags about you. Unlike others whoa re exposing their lives to the world, it is as if you are trying to hide something.
Because you are.
Does it not bother that someone can look up your conversations with your parents, read your emails, see where you shop, what you buy, travel history, and where you live?
Its not illegal or embarrassing, but I believe privacy is a human need/want.
It doesn't. All of these examples are faceless data analysts knowing something about me. I don't give a shit about them. I care more about keeping secrets from people I actually know (like what I got them for their birthday).
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MrPopo wrote:It doesn't. All of these examples are faceless data analysts knowing something about me. I don't give a shit about them. I care more about keeping secrets from people I actually know (like what I got them for their birthday).
I intentionally look at weird stuff from time to time because I know some analyst probably has to look at it. I really hope there is a lowly intel operator in Beijing screaming right now.
Sadly, if you know a name and relative region, your address and house apprasial value are only a search away. I found my house easily before the county mailed me my statement.
Also, if you work for any public institution, your salary info is a click away. In the education sector, all the teachers know what their peers and bosses make. Want to know how much your college prof made? The government/county/state has online databases for all this. Just have to know where to look...
I 100% agree with being as safe as possible. I am more paranoid than most about this bc I work in the technology industry. You should see the firewall reports I'very been shown. A lot of the attacks come from overseas. I'm simply pointing out more unavoidable points.
Also, VPN is just what is says, Virtual. You may masking your info from sites collecting info but the government could (and probably is) easily track the router to router comm & pinpoint you. As someone said, this likely raises more of a red flag than typical users.
Surprised I didn't see more residential firewall talk. Been looking at affordable options lately.
RCBH928 wrote:Does it not bother that someone can look up your conversations with your parents, read your emails, see where you shop, what you buy, travel history, and where you live?
Its not illegal or embarrassing, but I believe privacy is a human need/want.
Doesn't bother me either. I'm an open person, I'd tell you basically anything you want if you asked me (unless, like Popo suggested, it was something like a surprise I'm trying to pull for you)