Did the prospect of Real ID on forums scare the shit out of you? Yeah it scared the shit out of me too. And man, I’m relieved that it’s gonna DIAF, for now.
However, it got us all to reevaluate what information about us is on the Internet, even under an alias. And how resourceful psychopaths might connect the dots between a casual mention of a home town and a casual mention of some other factor and – BAM! You’re found.
I’m sorry to say, this escapade has shown us just how many psychos there are totally willing to connect those seemingly untraceable dots created by innocuous tidbits of information. A lot of victims of stalking, mostly women, bravely stepped forth to tell their stories – stories of stalking that occurred in some instances without divulging a real name.
Your personal information is a valuable commodity, and you have the power to protect it. Maybe this incident caused you to rethink some of the stuff that you have in various places on the Internet, and to make some changes to be extra-sure.
To those who think anonymity is cowardly: Anonymity occupies an important place in our society, even dating back before the Internet, and has shaped who we are. ArcaneTinkerTank will be talking about this in more depth next week.
Yeah. I’m stoked by the news (and not only because it means I can stop updating the Huge Post O’ Links), but still won’t actually be turning RealID on in-game because of the inherent privacy flaws in the model. I was sort of prepared to live with it before (despite usually being nutso-private about my name), but now… I think I’ll just continue to play it safe.