4 ms·

My parents never used to let me use my real name on the internet, even for productive content that I'd choose to take credit for. The fact that I exist doesn't

My parents never used to let me use my real name on the internet, even for productive content that I'd choose to take credit for. The fact that I exist doesn't expose me to pedophiles. Any idiot can buy a copy of the middle school phone directory and see my name, address, and phone number. A pedophile looking for children to molest would get more for his effort in a parked car a block away from school at 3:00 than in my WHOIS records. I don't use my name on HN because I sometimes play devil's advocate in ways that could be used against me if taken out of context. That's a deliberate choice and specific to this forum. But why does biographical information (in isolation) deserve protection? Can't I go to the University of Central Oklahoma registrar's office and get the full names of thousands and thousands of people who went there, as well as what states they're from? It's slightly weird for the fact that someone attended Outside Lands to be revealed, and I agree it'd be better to avoid disclosing that, but what exactly is so wrong about that?

cbhl 13y ago
> Can't I go to the University of Central Oklahoma registrar's office and get the full names of thousands and thousands of people who went there, as well as what states they're from? I don't know about the University of Central Oklahoma, but this would be explicitly prohibited at the University of Waterloo. There's a specific policy that covers access to student information: https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-19 https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guideli... Granted, you could figure these things out by scraping students' public Facebook profiles, but I think that says more about Facebook than it does about whether {full name, alta mater} is PII.
- superuser2 13y ago
  In the US, FERPA covers private information like grades and schedules, but biographical information and the fact that you attended is public record unless you submit a specific form.
  - rz2k 13y ago
    FERPA may serve as a baseline for federally mandated privacy rights of students, but many schools have additionally protections that are remarkably strict.

cbhl 13y ago

> Can't I go to the University of Central Oklahoma registrar's office and get the full names of thousands and thousands of people who went there, as well as what states they're from? I don't know about the University of Central Oklahoma, but this would be explicitly prohibited at the University of Waterloo. There's a specific policy that covers access to student information: https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-19 https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guideli... Granted, you could figure these things out by scraping students' public Facebook profiles, but I think that says more about Facebook than it does about whether {full name, alta mater} is PII.

superuser2 13y ago
In the US, FERPA covers private information like grades and schedules, but biographical information and the fact that you attended is public record unless you submit a specific form.
- rz2k 13y ago
  FERPA may serve as a baseline for federally mandated privacy rights of students, but many schools have additionally protections that are remarkably strict.