4 ms·

I've got an especially unique last name as well. So much so that I'm absolutely sure nobody in the world has my full name, and, as far as I'm aware, it's possib

by batbomb 13y ago

I've got an especially unique last name as well. So much so that I'm absolutely sure nobody in the world has my full name, and, as far as I'm aware, it's possible my dad and I are the only people in the united states with the same first/last name (of the 7 total on facebook, only 3 are in North America). My brother and sister are in a similar boat, thanks to unique spelling of their names. From my last name alone, I'm sure you could track me down with just that and the information that I've been on hacker news. Probably because of that, I've always been fairly paranoid about using my actual name on most things online, but graduating from a college, participating in research, and having a facebook account pretty much made it impossible to ever be truly anonymous.

username223 13y ago
Maybe you shouldn't have been boning those interns in the first place: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/fashion/nantucket-benefits-from-a-google-long-distance-marriage.html?pagewanted=all
AndiS 13y ago
My daughter specifically avoided creating a Facebook account until she went to university -- however, one of her classes had meetings which were calendared and discussed on a private FB group, so she had to join in order to participate in the class. She used an alias that would be recognizable to her classmates -- but, like you, she didn't want her legal name to be easily searchable by prospective employers, health-insurance companies, estranged family members, bad-breakup exes, etc. But, yes -- having a unique name makes anonymity and privacy more complex. And it shouldn't -- it penalizes people for the name they were BORN with, just because they can't blend into a sea of Bob/Joe/Sue/Tran/Wei names, which are more common. The ability to create a persistent pseudonym and to use it for unmuzzled online discourse is especially vital for people who would be all-too-easy to track down otherwise . . . but I think that it's still essential in terms of free-speech and privacy concerns for everyone.

by batbomb 13y ago

username223 13y ago

Maybe you shouldn't have been boning those interns in the first place: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/fashion/nantucket-benefits-from-a-google-long-distance-marriage.html?pagewanted=all

AndiS 13y ago

My daughter specifically avoided creating a Facebook account until she went to university -- however, one of her classes had meetings which were calendared and discussed on a private FB group, so she had to join in order to participate in the class. She used an alias that would be recognizable to her classmates -- but, like you, she didn't want her legal name to be easily searchable by prospective employers, health-insurance companies, estranged family members, bad-breakup exes, etc. But, yes -- having a unique name makes anonymity and privacy more complex. And it shouldn't -- it penalizes people for the name they were BORN with, just because they can't blend into a sea of Bob/Joe/Sue/Tran/Wei names, which are more common. The ability to create a persistent pseudonym and to use it for unmuzzled online discourse is especially vital for people who would be all-too-easy to track down otherwise . . . but I think that it's still essential in terms of free-speech and privacy concerns for everyone.