8 ms·
"John Smith" I personally found that having a very very common name provides a lot of privacy. If you look me up by my real firstname/lastname, you'll find out
by invaliduser 10y ago
"John Smith"
I personally found that having a very very common name provides a lot of privacy. If you look me up by my real firstname/lastname, you'll find out we are borg, we are 1000s, and I'm burried somewhere far and deep in the search results.
- ghaff 10y agoFor better or worse, having a very common name is one of the best ways to hide. By contrast, my name is effectively unique (at least among people who have any web presence). The worst of both world though is probably having an almost unique name that you share with someone notorious who could plausibly be you for reasons of age, location, etc. I once knew someone who shared names (in the pre-Web era) with someone who was a widely hated figure at one point in NYC. My acquaintance literally got death threats on his answering machine aimed at this individual.
- greglindahl 10y agoI had a roommate named John Edward Smith III. Aside from the III, this is basically the most common name in the US. There were 3 people with exactly his name (including the III!) in the University of Virginia database. If you're going to change your legal name for privacy reasons, it's a good choice.
- thatwebdude 10y agoLikewise, I don't have a very common name at all, but after googling it, found many high-profile people who do. They help me hide way back in the search results.