to ask thisisanicecage to repeat her experiment on internet insecurity

[Consils]

she looked up the mumsnet history of a random poster and was able to find out names and addresses. I missed the end of the last thread and I am still curious.

[Unacceptable]

On here a lot of us try to be quite anonymous but I wonder about Facebook. Do people join Facebook and think they aren't sharing info with the rest of the world?

Having said that I am possibly a little naive about the risk being open poses. Having Teenage children I worry what they put out there but never consider I'm leaving myself open to anything.

What are the concerns? Identity theft?

Those of you who haven't joined any networking sites...what are the worries or have you just not signed up to any because you have no interest?

[catgirl1976]

Ooh I'm excited

And a bit nervous :)

I will let you know if I have been tracked down sucessfully!

[SaraBellumHertz]

Gosh wonder if you're right?

Still think I'm untraceable though sticks head firmly in sand

[AnitaManeater]

I would like to be stalked please! Have never nc'd on here but may think about it now lol

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I'd be interested in being stalked for research purposes too!

[ThePlEWhoLovedMe]

Anitamaneater - is your name Mc...?

[Tianc]

KFC yes! The electoral roll is a real giveaway. Many people don't realise you can ask for your name not be on the public list which gets sold to data companies.

IIUC, the police, etc can still see the non-public electoral roll, so you are not inhibiting their work by staying off the public roll.

[Tianc]

catgirl1976, you have mail.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Someone do me! So I can panic and name change

[catgirl1976]

Holy cow

Am actually in shock

Tianic has found out which country I was born in, when I moved to the UK, a fair few of the places I have lived including current location.

The name and DOB of my DS

What my father does for a living and how he pays his tax

Where I went to uni and what degrees I did

The number and sex of my siblings (including which country DSis was born in)

Where I work. Where I have worked

The occupation of my DH

Where and when I married DH (not in UK so surprised)

Plus a lot of personal snippet probably gained from MN posts

The only thing incorrect was how long I had been with DH (but I think that's a typo to be honest)

There were a couple of little gaps but other than that, a bit of a life history

I feel very naked!!!

[catgirl1976]

Oh...and of course, my RL name

[catgirl1976]

My job title is out of date but my workplace is still right

If anyone wanted to find me, they could just google the company and walk in / wait for me to walk out

scary thought..........

[Tianc]

Blegh, can't add up. Yes, of course you met DH 10 years later than I said.

[catgirl1976]

Yup -exactly 10 years later so assumed that was typo / maths thing rather than an error

Impressed and shocked!

Just wow!

The level of detail is insane

I thought you might get my RL name and from that maybe where I work and a few snippets from MN posts, but you know more about me than people I work with for example

[catgirl1976]

Out if interest to people who worry about Facebook......that was the only place Tianic couldn't find info on me, even though I use it fairly heavily so I am comforted my security settings are working!

[Alisvolatpropiis]

That's quite scary catgirl

And quite amazing!

[SaraBellumHertz]

Wow

Tianc is this research connected with the work you do? Amazing

[AndABigBirdInaPearTree]

I'd like to know if I can be identified.

[KentuckyFriedChildren]

Oh well that's good to know I suppose. I guess it makes it quite hard for internet stalkers etc to look you up. People need to know about the opt out! Its quite easy to miss I spose, it is just a wee tick box.

[AbsintheMinded]

I remember the first thread back way when and it gave me a wake up call to do proper name changes every few months. I had done variations of the same name before that thread. I also deleted my fb account and now use more obscure passwords for other sites.

To answer a previous poste'rs question about why privacy is important to me, the first reason would be just because I don't want the world or my relatives knowing every word I write on the Internet.
Secondly, should I return to the workplace, I don't want my future employers to be put off my application after seeing a drunken photo of me at a party or my reading a rant about sexism.
Thirdly, there are nutters out there and I'm wary of that.

[AndABigBirdInaPearTree]

I use a fake name on Facebook and so does DS, but DH does not. If I post my real name on the interwebs I use my known as name/nickname except when I need to pay by credit card and even then I try and use DHs instead.

I would love to know if I have dropped some obvious cookie crumbs because I try to be careful.

[TalkinPeace2]

why do you use a fake name on Facebook?

I use linkedin with one of my real names - and strictly all work related
and facebook in the other of my real names - strictly non work related

all other forums, where I am not able to alter privacy, I use this name.

[WednesdayNext]

Bloody hell! That's scary. I'd still be happy to be stalked by tianc though as I'm even more curious given all the info found on catgirl

[RatherBeACyborg]

Now I'm even MORE curious to see what can be found out about me!

[Tianc]

Btw, I can't be 100% sure about catgirl's fb security, because I simply didn't identify her account. She has a fairly common RL name and I also don't know if she's using a maiden or married name.

If I'd spent longer, I might well have found it - or the fb page of someone connected to catgirl. You can have fb security tighter than a gnat's chuff, but your posts on your MIL's wall might be completely open. Ditto your bezzie and pics of that party.