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Is there a valid reason to publish your contact number? Wouldn't not having it accessible been the easier solution? Of course, someone could email too, but it's

Is there a valid reason to publish your contact number? Wouldn't not having it accessible been the easier solution? Of course, someone could email too, but it's easier to deal with them; easier even to create a filter and ignore them altogether.

dtech 8y ago
Blaming people for having their contact info somewhere on the internet is not really relevant. There are many valid reasons why people could contact you or why you prefer contact information to be available somewhere, in this case for example to hire an expert SQLite consultant. Problem is that a determined enough misguided user will also be able to find you in that case.
- code_duck 8y ago
  That’s fine, but I surely would not have my publicly listed phone number connected to something that could ring and wake me at night.
  - slenk 8y ago
    The internet seemed more trusting back in 2006. Also, things like Google Voice didn't exist yet and who knew spam/robocalls would be such an issue. Hindsight is always 20/20
    - code_duck 8y ago
      Maybe 1996? 2006 is hardly the early days. I remember people are being more paranoid about the Internet then, stoked by confusion in the media. The people who manufactured my glass torch thought that if they publish their phone number on the Internet circa 2005, their phone would be ringing off the hook with strangers asking them questions. Also, that’s still was a time when some people still thought shopping online meant their credit card number was more likely to be stolen somehow. Granted that those who thought these things we’re not technologically sophisticated. These days, many businesses have their phone numbers on the Internet. I had mine on my Instagram profile. Nobody unusual called me. If I was embroiled in perennial controversy, though, or mistaken for someone who was, things likely would’ve been different.
      - AaronLBratcher 8y ago
        "Also, that’s still was a time when some people still thought shopping online meant their credit card number was more likely to be stolen somehow." Perhaps they were wiser than we thought given all the data/security breaches in the past few years.
        code_duck 8y ago
        But many of the breaches have involved companies like TJ Maxx or Target. Few realized that shopping at a nationwide brick and mortar store was a way a card might be stolen. Also, people thought their card would be intercepted during transmission, not taken from a database. That's what journalists were writing about, I guess.
        AaronLBratcher 8y ago
        I agree, the database hacking may not have been seen as much as it should have been by the general public. As a programmer I can say for sure that people like me, however, were thinking about it. Here's a link about recent data breaches that may include credit card information. Several big companies in here. https://www.businessinsider.com/data-breaches-2018-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/data-breaches-2018-4
tracker1 8y ago
Well, I have a fairly popular npm module (gulp module) that I don't use anymore... on ocassion an issue from a dependency will break things, or have a security issue etc. Many people's builds may be broken, and unfortunately I don't always keep up on email or github notifications. That said, if someone reached out, it's generally going to get a faster fix.

dtech 8y ago

Blaming people for having their contact info somewhere on the internet is not really relevant. There are many valid reasons why people could contact you or why you prefer contact information to be available somewhere, in this case for example to hire an expert SQLite consultant. Problem is that a determined enough misguided user will also be able to find you in that case.

code_duck 8y ago
That’s fine, but I surely would not have my publicly listed phone number connected to something that could ring and wake me at night.
- slenk 8y ago
  The internet seemed more trusting back in 2006. Also, things like Google Voice didn't exist yet and who knew spam/robocalls would be such an issue. Hindsight is always 20/20
  - code_duck 8y ago
    Maybe 1996? 2006 is hardly the early days. I remember people are being more paranoid about the Internet then, stoked by confusion in the media. The people who manufactured my glass torch thought that if they publish their phone number on the Internet circa 2005, their phone would be ringing off the hook with strangers asking them questions. Also, that’s still was a time when some people still thought shopping online meant their credit card number was more likely to be stolen somehow. Granted that those who thought these things we’re not technologically sophisticated. These days, many businesses have their phone numbers on the Internet. I had mine on my Instagram profile. Nobody unusual called me. If I was embroiled in perennial controversy, though, or mistaken for someone who was, things likely would’ve been different.
    - AaronLBratcher 8y ago
      "Also, that’s still was a time when some people still thought shopping online meant their credit card number was more likely to be stolen somehow." Perhaps they were wiser than we thought given all the data/security breaches in the past few years.
      - code_duck 8y ago
        But many of the breaches have involved companies like TJ Maxx or Target. Few realized that shopping at a nationwide brick and mortar store was a way a card might be stolen. Also, people thought their card would be intercepted during transmission, not taken from a database. That's what journalists were writing about, I guess.
        AaronLBratcher 8y ago
        I agree, the database hacking may not have been seen as much as it should have been by the general public. As a programmer I can say for sure that people like me, however, were thinking about it. Here's a link about recent data breaches that may include credit card information. Several big companies in here. https://www.businessinsider.com/data-breaches-2018-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/data-breaches-2018-4

tracker1 8y ago

Well, I have a fairly popular npm module (gulp module) that I don't use anymore... on ocassion an issue from a dependency will break things, or have a security issue etc. Many people's builds may be broken, and unfortunately I don't always keep up on email or github notifications. That said, if someone reached out, it's generally going to get a faster fix.