Take care of your privacy

This post is meant as a fair warning for any forum user.

I was always quite open about my RL information (as in name / age / gender / location [down to City level] / passions) and I even occasionally posted some RL pictures of mine; however, I was always careful to not post any directly identifiable information that could allow some potentially bad intentioned people to track me down in real life (as in I only used my first name, not the full name / I used pictures that I didn't used on my RL social media accounts / I never post e-mail address, Skype handle, etc in open, but gave them only to people I trust). I found that to be a good compromise between openness and privacy.

However, a recent event really worried me, made me reconsider my approach and also made me create this thread in case other people find themselves in my situation. And here's what I talk about - a forum moderator (who I don't know to what other sensitive info may have access - like maybe my IP, e-mail, password) publicly admitted here that he will cash out some "favors" and use his "relations" to not only find out real life personal information about me (full name at least, but maybe even street address or ID number), which are not normally public and which I explicitly refused to shared, but also to publicly share them. I honestly don't know what his intentions are, but, really, the prospect of a stranger (a moderator, who is presumed to protect me form the "bad guys") getting access to and eventually posting out private information like my full name and who knows what else, makes me really uncomfortable.

That's why I highly recommend anyone who is also not comfortable linking their RL persona to their online / forum / ingame persona to be really careful what information they post online, because you never know when someone may decide to stalk you starting from those. Among that I recommend to never post your full name, birthday date, exact location (country is probably safe, but dunno if more than that) and, also, use a different email than your main one, as well as a different password than the one you may use on other sites. I didn't took these precautions and now things may turn ugly for me (as in the best case ending up being bothered by a few people on mail / social media and in the worst case... well, I don't even want to think about the worst case), but YOU can still prevent the same thing happening to you, if you take care of what information you share.

DoA said:

This post is meant as a fair warning for any forum user.

I was always quite open about my RL information (as in name / age / gender / location [down to City level] / passions) and I even occasionally posted some RL pictures of mine; however, I was always careful to not post any directly identifiable information that could allow some potentially bad intentioned people to track me down in real life (as in I only used my first name, not the full name / I used pictures that I didn't used on my RL social media accounts / I never post e-mail address, Skype handle, etc in open, but gave them only to people I trust). I found that to be a good compromise between openness and privacy.

However, a recent event really worried me, made me reconsider my approach and also made me create this thread in case other people find themselves in my situation. And here's what I talk about - a forum moderator (who I don't know to what other sensitive info may have access - like maybe my IP, e-mail, password) publicly admitted here that he will cash out some "favors" and use his "relations" to find out real life personal information about me (full name at least, but maybe even street address or ID number), which are not normally public and which I explicitly refused to shared). I honestly don't know what his intentions are, but, really, the prospect of a stranger (a moderator, who is presumed to protect me form the "bad guys") getting access and eventually posting out private information like my full name and who knows what else, makes me really uncomfortable.

That's why I highly recommend anyone who is also not comfortable linking their RL persona to their online / forum / ingame persona to be really careful what information they post online, because you never know when someone may start stalking you starting from those. Among that I recommend to never post your full name, birthday date, exact location (country is probably safe, but dunno if more than that) and, also, use a different email than your main one, as well as a different password than the one you may use on other sites. I didn't took these precautions and now things may turn ugly for me (as in the best case ending up being bothered by a few people on mail / social media and in the worst case... well, I don't even want to think about the worst case), but YOU can still prevent the same thing happening to you, if you take care of what information you share.

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It's always very wise to keep RL data hidden as much as you can, i use a different username here, my game name has nothing to do with my real name as i'd be easily identifiable, although i'm not fussed if they know i live in Sheffield, but anyone with the full intention can track you down.

The post from Elite i did consider cynical banter and thats all, the thread was closed straight after. Plus any friend wouldn't risk there position by breaching the Data Privacy act to give out your details.

Not giving out personal information on a public forum is basic online safety.

That you have given out so must of your personal information in that way I can only think is a reflection of your youth and inexperience. To put that into some sort of context just let me say that I have been online since 1998 or 9 so longer than you have been alive

I certainly hope that your open friendliness does not cause you any RL problems.

On the internet no one is really anonymous.
With sufficient resources[1], one can be tracked down.

OTOH no one says you have to make it easy for the ones that look for you

[1] When you get to state-level resources things get really hairy, really fast (think Snowden)

If you are truly in Mensa they have a rule that members shall not to pass through information of any members or other stuff that should stay in Mensa. I wouldn't be worried

Oh but there is simply not a chance any of your naysayers would be able to even get a glimpse, let alone touch you, sitting on that high horse of yours? Yous be safe me thinX

I didn't see where anyone stated that they were going to publish personal information to the public. In fact, he said he would sent it to you.

I didn't see where anyone stated that were going to use their position as a Moderator here to gain additional information. He stated that he would ask some friends based on information you have freely given this community (gender, location and age).

The bigger issue is your statements could be taken as Libel as you embellished the story to try and make his statements seem more sinister, defaming his status on this board and making it more difficult for him to continue as an admin. Honestly, I doubt he would take it further since the statement was so easily seen thru, but still. You may wish to be more careful on what you say about people.

I think you may also want to revisit your post and pull the extra comments you added to try to make your case. Or even better, delete this thread. We could all use a break from the Drama.

Sionkiewicz said:

I didn't see where anyone stated that they were going to publish personal information to the public. In fact, he said he would sent it to you.

I didn't see where anyone stated that were going to use their position as a Moderator here to gain additional information. He stated that he would ask some friends based on information you have freely given this community (gender, location and age).

The bigger issue is your statements could be taken as Libel as you embellished the story to try and make his statements seem more sinister, defaming his status on this board and making it more difficult for him to continue as an admin. Honestly, I doubt he would take it further since the statement was so easily seen thru, but still. You may wish to be more careful on what you say about people.

I think you may also want to revisit your post and pull the extra comments you added to try to make your case. Or even better, delete this thread. We could all use a break from the Drama.

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His post was "Since you didn't provide your Mensa credentials to help prove your point to the nay-sayers, I took the liberty to do you the favor and ask some of my good friends with deep establishment at Mensa, to verify your credentials. Based on your gender, location and age, it'll be pretty quick to verify. I will get back with the result soon. You're welcome!"

When he said "I will get back" (not "I will get back to you" which would mean, as you suggested, that he will sent them to men, not make them public) I can only assume that he would get back in the very same place where he made the statement, which is the forum post. Now what can "results" meaning in his saying "will get back with the result" other than personal information? So, yes, I think that's exactly what he said - that he will use some favors to find out some personal information he shouldn't have access to without my consent and that he will get back with said information and make it public. I think that's the only logical way to interpret this.

And no, he didn't said he will use his moderating tools, neither I said he did, but I just said that the fact that he might have access to them worries me (I am not event sure if they are available only to admins or to moderators too) since, for example, the email address includes my family name, which would make his "check" much easier. Also, talking about drama, please note that I only started this thread after he posted in that defunct thread (which had no posts and was even locked since March, so that's one place where he actually used his moderator powers).

As said, I can't know what his intentions are, but the simple fact that he clearly stated that he will use some favors to find out some personal information he shouldn't have access to without my consent and that he will get back with said information and make it public worries me deeply. Is no secret that some people around here have some pretty strong feelings against me and I wouldn't feel comfortable at all if they will be given the info to track me down in real life.

Why do I have this feeling that you are just trying very hard to build up your EU persona? This has happened in the past, and the result was bad. Very bad. Scammy bad I would say.

With every new thread or post of yours I get the same shitty feeling reinforced. They are just full of gratuitous drama and self entitled bs as if you were the chosen one or something.

Just leaving this warning here, let's hope I don't have to quote myself in a few months.

Could be just me tho, I'm not in mensa so I'm a retard.

Heh.

Angel O2 Mercer said:

Why do I have this feeling that you are just trying very hard to build up your EU persona? This has happened in the past, and the result was bad. Very bad. Scammy bad I would say.

With every new thread or post of yours I get the same shitty feeling reinforced. They are just full of gratuitous drama and self entitled bs as if you were the chosen one or something.

Just leaving this warning here, let's hope I don't have to quote myself in a few months.

Could be just me tho, I'm not in mensa so I'm a retard.

Heh.

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You read my mind.

The post from e-lite was to a thread which didn't have recent posts. That is strange to say the least.
Why close a thread that hasn't had replies since March?

For someone who writes that they're smarter than 98% of the population, you sure have struggled to understand e-lite's humour.

He was obviously pointing out the futility of making unsubstantiated claims on a semi-anonymous website.

Aio said:

For someone who writes that they're smarter than 98% of the population, you sure have struggled to understand e-lite's humour.

He was obviously pointing out the futility of making unsubstantiated claims on a semi-anonymous website.

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I thought maybe I was the only one who got the joke.

Just leave, you are ridiculous.

Dab said:

I thought maybe I was the only one who got the joke.

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Nope. Sad but as well I think he was just bating our drama queen and she bit!

I have been reading your posts for a while...

All i can say to you is:
Not all puppets will dance the way you want them too.

On another note, we'll have another 2 iterations or so of DOA before there is any actually quitting.

It's the same pattern from her(?) that happened in Wurm.

I was slightly surprised by the mod post but took it as an easily defendable joke. The defence however rests solely with DOA and her vast intellect. Its not terribly difficult to become a member of a club where membership adds no benefits other than self serving parody. I could probably have joined when I was significantly younger but even then I would have recognised that the remainder of the world would only have thought I was on a mission to become what DOA can only impolitely be described as - embarrassing as it is to use the tem in an open forum !

Spawn said:

The post from e-lite was to a thread which didn't have recent posts. That is strange to say the least.
Why close a thread that hasn't had replies since March?

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Not only that, but the thread was closed even before his message - so he actually used his moderator powers to specifically post that in a thread that was closed months ago.

Aio said:

For someone who writes that they're smarter than 98% of the population, you sure have struggled to understand e-lite's humour.

He was obviously pointing out the futility of making unsubstantiated claims on a semi-anonymous website.

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Dab said:

I thought maybe I was the only one who got the joke.

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OZtwo said:

Nope. Sad but as well I think he was just bating our drama queen and she bit!

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gwit said:

I was slightly surprised by the mod post but took it as an easily defendable joke. The defence however rests solely with DOA and her vast intellect. Its not terribly difficult to become a member of a club where membership adds no benefits other than self serving parody. I could probably have joined when I was significantly younger but even then I would have recognised that the remainder of the world would only have thought I was on a mission to become what DOA can only impolitely be described as - embarrassing as it is to use the tem in an open forum !

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Not all people are good at spotting jokes; having an autistic disorder I specifically suck at this.

But, really, when someone makes the same threat (or at least that's the way I interpret it) both in private and in public, I think is hardly to interpret it as a joke.

Also, if it was actually a joke, I really fail to understand why he had to do it in a thread that was already closed since four months ago, especially under the conditions that, except a commercial thread, I had absolutely no new threads started during this last month (July).

DoA said:

That was exactly what he said he will try to bypass, using his relations... and that what worries me most.

Also, he not only did that, but after I refused to answer his question sent in a private message, he also threatened me that he will find it out anyway and mentioned that he is working since 12 years in computer security for a governmental institution so, if he wants, he has the tools to find out everything about me.





Not only that, but the thread was closed even before his message - so he actually used his moderator powers to specifically post that in a thread that was closed months ago.

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Welcome to the internet hun, once you get in touch with this cyberworld... you will leave behind some traces Real life goes the same way btw...

DoA said:

And to everyone that accused me of "creating drama" - yeah, maybe I did it in the past; hell, maybe I did in that thread too (not proud of how I handled it btw), but please note that this time it was definitely not me that started this, but the mentioned admin, who, as already said, posted that in a thread which was already dead and closed since four months ago. So I really fail to see how I generated this

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Lets see last week then the week before that and then a few the week before that then well hell all this last year about every week if not more in a week.

So yes you simply just need to slow down here. That's all. The world is NOT coming to an end..

OZtwo said:

Lets see last week then the week before that and then a few the week before that then well hell all this last year about every week if not more in a week.

So yes you simply just need to slow down here. That's all. The world is NOT coming to an end..

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Blatant lies (like usually)!

Anyone can see my last started threads here, the only thread I started this month was this which is a pure commercial one.

Also, anyone can see my last posts here - other than bumping the previously mentioned thread and saying grats/good luck to a few people in their logs, I had no other forum posts during this month.

DoA said:

Blatant lies (like usually)!

Anyone can see my last started threads here, the only thread I started this month was this which is a pure commercial one.

Also, anyone can see my last posts here - other than bumping the previously mentioned thread and saying grats/good luck to a few people in their logs, I had no other forum posts during this month.

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Are you aware that you are a lot (obessive?) into intensifying and dragging out almost each and every detail to "prove" something?

Learn to take things with a pinch of salt and accept that not everything is balanced.
There is no need to keep defending yourself, same goes for others to accept what you are saying.

I think you also have Tunnel Vision.

Just take it easy.

SHY said:

Are you aware that you are a lot (obessive?) into intensifying and dragging out almost each and every detail to "prove" something?

Learn to take things with a pinch of salt and accept that not everything is balanced.
There is no need to keep defending yourself, same goes for others to accept what you are saying.

I think you also have Tunnel Vision.

Just take it easy.

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Because I simply want people to judge me based on facts, not lies.

If they decide to hate me after that (and A LOT of people do that) that's totally fine and I have no problem with that; I don't want to be loved, liked, accepted or anything like that.

But I simply can't stand seeing people stating lies about me.

DoA said:

Because I simply want people to judge me based on facts, not lies.

If they decide to hate me after that (and A LOT of people do that) that's totally fine and I have no problem with that; I don't want to be loved, liked, accepted or anything like that.

But I simply can't stand seeing people stating lies about me.

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You see, this line:
But I simply can't stand seeing people stating lies about me.
It can be a fact... but it can be a opinion also...

Now try to think much wider/brighter... and hopefully you understand where this whole chainreaction comes from...

All I have to say is..

atomicstorm said:

All I have to say is..

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I hope you paid the 5$ for the popcorn, bitch

I guess we just figured out that having a high IQ does not make you smart....if you were smart you would never have gotten into this in the first place.

In terms of Elites message, he said he would verify your credentials and get back with the results...to me this doesn't mean that he is going to post ANY identifiable information.
It just means he will come back saying either:
Yes, you are part of Mensa and therefore confirmed higher IQ for your age, or
No you are not part of Mensa and therefore have been posting false information in the hopes of putting yourself above other people.

Either way my point is that you are always at risk on the internet and should never post ANY personal information if you don't want to be found (including pictures). This is common sense which someone with a high IQ should know, however due to your age, you may not have fully grasped the situation the internet provides.

Most schools usually have classes on this but i guess kids these days just don't listen or learn from their elders. Since the internet was already around when you were born you take it for granted, but for those of us who saw the internet progress from dialing in and no search engines (yes you had to know the website address exactly to look at it, and most likely got it from a friend) were brought up to be careful with what we posted and put up.

Now with Facebook and other social media sites, anyone can find anyone else if they just take the time to do so.

So I would rather be safe than smart, however being both works as well

I think this may be why parental locks should be on things...