4 ms·

One of the things that I accidentally got is an extremely common first + last name combination. Googling it gives you eight digits of results and an info box fo

One of the things that I accidentally got is an extremely common first + last name combination. Googling it gives you eight digits of results and an info box for an athlete. My childhood library system had five other people with my name, and my childhood pediatrician had one other. It makes me a lot more confident about my pseudonyms' online anonymity. Not that I don't think concerted attackers could figure out who I am - people have, given access to additional info like previous employers or the college I attended. But I think it severely limits the ease and scope with which people could attack my personal life through my posts online. When I have children I'm going to do the same for them, I can only think it'll be even more important thirty years from now.

inetknght 6y ago
On the other hand someone trying to hack you could cause collateral damage to others with your name
- 29083011397778 6y ago
  That's one reason to advocate for good security hygiene for everyone. "I'm not important" is not a defence here, helping your aunt set up a password manager that syncs automagically for her is.
dhosek 6y ago
When I taught high school in the '00s, they used first+last name as a primary identifier for students. For duplicates, they added an asterisk on the end, repeating as necessary. I had one student on my roster who was Jose Ramirez**** (not his actual name or number of asterisks, both of which I've long since forgotten).
InitialLastName 6y ago
This, I don't have a common name, but I'm roughly the same age/regional origin as someone with the same name as me who has generated enough internet noise from things like sports that the tracker pages (as an example) have us deeply confused. Very comforting, except for when we get emails meant for each other.
BitwiseFool 6y ago
All of these Millenial mom and dads probably didn't realize giving their child a rare/unique name would make the kids so much easier to track online.
- beckingz 6y ago
  No one ever considers the entropy of a name.

inetknght 6y ago

On the other hand someone trying to hack you could cause collateral damage to others with your name

29083011397778 6y ago
That's one reason to advocate for good security hygiene for everyone. "I'm not important" is not a defence here, helping your aunt set up a password manager that syncs automagically for her is.

dhosek 6y ago

When I taught high school in the '00s, they used first+last name as a primary identifier for students. For duplicates, they added an asterisk on the end, repeating as necessary. I had one student on my roster who was Jose Ramirez**** (not his actual name or number of asterisks, both of which I've long since forgotten).

InitialLastName 6y ago

This, I don't have a common name, but I'm roughly the same age/regional origin as someone with the same name as me who has generated enough internet noise from things like sports that the tracker pages (as an example) have us deeply confused. Very comforting, except for when we get emails meant for each other.

BitwiseFool 6y ago

All of these Millenial mom and dads probably didn't realize giving their child a rare/unique name would make the kids so much easier to track online.

beckingz 6y ago
No one ever considers the entropy of a name.