Why is the city are area you are from not in your signature?

[summersigh]

You might be amazed at how easy it can be to track people down based on the little information of where they live, even in general, and what innocent things they reveal about themselves.

For some people, keeping their location vague (at most) is for their own protection.

 

Bingo !!!

[summersigh]

If a poster gives their city and their first names, with a couple of stops on the internet, an interested person can find their last names .... and from there an address is easy to find.

 

Thus ... giving too much information on a chat board just might give what a crook would want to know ... when and for how long a home will be sitting empty. Maybe I sound paranoid - but I'd rather be safe than sorry :)

 

Example: Last week I needed to let the absentee, out of state owner of a condo adjacent to one we own that there was a problem in her unit. All I had was the woman's name (a relatively common name at that). Within 10 minutes I'd found her husband's name, their phone number, and home address including a Google map to their home.

Kind of scary IMHO ....:eek:

[iancal]

Absolutely. I have an IT background. Forever drilling into my spouse and adult children just how insecure Facebook is..and all of the other sites.

 

We are not paranoid, just careful. We shred all hard copy personal and financial data that we no longer use. It amazes me how many people seem to go out of their way to advertise that they will be away from their homes etc.

 

The decision to list a home town or location is a personal one, not really anybody else's business or concern.

[navybankerteacher]

How true! I went to the mall today, and I must say I checked around for good hiding places. Not something we had thought about in Canada before.

 

And the hatchet attack in New York is an unsettling wake-up call on our side of the border.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I had been thinking I should delete the town from my profile, so I just did that. Yes, all, it is really a shame we have to be so conscious of privacy issues. Mary Jane

 

I agree...

[cbr663]

If a poster gives their city and their first names, with a couple of stops on the internet, an interested person can find their last names .... and from there an address is easy to find.

 

Thus ... giving too much information on a chat board just might give what a crook would want to know ... when and for how long a home will be sitting empty. Maybe I sound paranoid - but I'd rather be safe than sorry :)

 

Example: Last week I needed to let the absentee, out of state owner of a condo adjacent to one we own that there was a problem in her unit. All I had was the woman's name (a relatively common name at that). Within 10 minutes I'd found her husband's name, their phone number, and home address including a Google map to their home.

Kind of scary IMHO ....:eek:

 

It indeed is. Keep in mind also that a lot of public information that was previously difficult to access is now readily available online. In the example above, you most likely could have easily gotten the property tax information on the home, home's assessed value, mortgage details, liens on any vehicles.....most of this information is available free or for a very small fee.

 

A first name and city location is just enough to commence a search. Add in a spouse's first name and it just makes it so much easier. Throw in a casual Happy Birthday here, a Happy Anniversary or Deepest Sympathies and more personal information. Add in the detailed cruise history in a signature and years of casual posts here and there and it all amounts to a lot of personal information being freely provided.

[Lizzie68]

It indeed is. Keep in mind also that a lot of public information that was previously difficult to access is now readily available online. In the example above, you most likely could have easily gotten the property tax information on the home, home's assessed value, mortgage details, liens on any vehicles.....most of this information is available free or for a very small fee.

 

A first name and city location is just enough to commence a search. Add in a spouse's first name and it just makes it so much easier. Throw in a casual Happy Birthday here, a Happy Anniversary or Deepest Sympathies and more personal information. Add in the detailed cruise history in a signature and years of casual posts here and there and it all amounts to a lot of personal information being freely provided.

 

Absolutely right. Some people tend to be quite naive. No way will I put in a town where I live just to appease others reading a forum. It makes no difference at all to anyone. I can see putting the country and/or state, no one needs to know anything more.

[RetiredMustang]

That's why I helped her. I said " Let's pick on Dave.".:D

 

Hey, now! Which Dave?

 

Actually, this is an interesting thread. I used to call people by their first names on this board, but when a dear CC friend said she had had a problem with a stalker, and a thread a while ago kind of reinforced that, I decided only to do so when the people signed off that way.

 

So, although I know many of your real names, including last names, I no longer refer to your names (OK, maybe initials), and only refer to you by the names you have as your sign-on, or by your signature if you use your name, such as Donna, Sheila and John.

 

BTW, Arlington VA is a very large suburban city with hundreds of thousands of residents ... and Dave is not my first name, as some of you know, so you won't find me under that name in the phone book, for example. I come from a Southern U.S. culture (even though I was born and grew up in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, my parents were from the Southern U.S., and I and most of my siblings go by middle names ... I don't know why). And, there are many retired Navy officers who started as enlisted (mustangs) here, so I don't sweat it much.

 

So, I am not concerned very much about my data, but I will respect the preferences of those who chose not to reveal much info.

 

But ... I also agree with Ruth -- if I know, generally, where you are, I can craft any answer to where you are.

 

Dave (not my first name ;))

Edited October 24, 2014 by RetiredMustang

[nana51]

Well, I guess I like to live dangerously. San Diego is a pretty big city and I don't even really live "in" San Diego, I live in a suburb of it but no one will have any idea of where it is. So I always say San Diego. I only started locking my front door a few years ago. We are pretty much crime free where I live but it could happen to anyone I know that. We are careful, but my husband and I keep our front door wide open on summer evenings to let in the cool fresh air. We are foolhardy I know but it is the way we are.

[1of4]

HEY - how did I get into this cartoon??? No fair picking on me.

 

Dave

 

...snort! :eek::rolleyes::D:)