False positives are an interesting case, where things can definitely get messy. That doctor may have used the same system for decades without ever seeing a nam

False positives are an interesting case, where things can definitely get messy. That doctor may have used the same system for decades without ever seeing a name collision, but if the receptionist hadn't noticed in that instance, both of you might have had significant problems in the future. Likewise, if someone decides to track another person with malicious intent (say, "that guy I saw my ex with in the restaurant who was wearing the [university] shirt and talked about being in [field] and growing up in [place]") and they end up locating the wrong target, things could get ugly. Or if a company starts sending potentially offensive material to someone they've misidentified, it can trigger family drama or even retaliation. So it's a two-edged sword. People aren't very anonymous, but mistakes in the de-anonymization process can wreak havoc.