Blackfive has a great post that also points to a post by Roger Simon regarding a blogger's identity. I wrote way too much on the comments section over at Blackfive and then still had more to say. Instead of filling up yet more space over at his blog I thought I'd just come back to my own and finish up.
In regard to a blogger's identity, some people dislike anonymous blogs...
I'm one of those people that isn't crazy about them. Even in real life, when someone tells you something you want to have some basis for evaluating what they're saying. Unless you know the person really well, you want to know where they got their information. Without that, what they say is meaningless.
Now that doesn't mean that you have to go and blabber all about your personal life all over your blog. There are whackos out there that get off on victimizing people who reveal too much - and that's without taking into consideration all those disaffected deaniacs lurking under every bush. You should reveal enough about yourself so the person reading your blog has some way of judging if what they are reading is true or worth considering.
There is an exception to that though. Whenever I post on anything that is even vaguely factual I try to reference reputable news and information sources so the reader can evaluate what I say based on them and not so much on my own identity. Most of what I blog about is my own opinion. In that case, it's nice for the reader to know a little about me, but that's it.
Recently, I was bored and did a whois lookup on several of my favorite bloggers. I was horrified to find that some of them have their home address and telephone numbers on their domain registration. In my book, that isn't a good idea. I think it's wise to keep details about your personal life; your kids, your wife, the place where you work, from your blog. No one needs that kind of information.
There's also the question of your employer. No one needs to know that either. Additionally, I serve in a obscure but vital elected position in my community. I need to be careful that what I say isn't somehow taken out of context. Therefore, I'm careful about what I write. Also, if I run for elected office in the future I don't want what I write to be used against me. Having personal information obscured is a good way to avoid any problems with that as well as watching what I write.
It's possible to get too paranoid. If anyone really wants to they can figure out where you live, etc. You can obscure some things but as for the rest, that's part of the risk inherent with having a blog read by (hopefully) thousands of people. My dad was a cop while I was growing up. We had an unlisted number but we always knew that if some whacko showed up that we had the means available to protect ourselves. You shouldn't take the risk unless you're able to do that.
If you're one of those people with your home address listed on your domain registration then change it! Otherwise I think it's good to just be careful out there.
Posted by jdmays at January 20, 2004 10:20 PM | TrackBackroger that, but how to change it? They use your billing information for the whois record when you register a domain.
P.S. Even though I STILL don't have a trusty M-60, I do have the means to protect myself.
Jennifer Martinez sends
Posted by: Jennifer Martinez at January 20, 2004 08:58 PMDammit, Jennifer, if it's the last thing that I do, it's get you that M-60!
Posted by: Blackfive at January 20, 2004 09:16 PMIn order to protect your private information you can now get something called Private Registration. There's a web page that gives you options for protecting your personal information that can be found at this url:
http://www.internetprivacyadvocate.org/protectyourpersonalinfo.html
--- not that either Blackfive or Collection of Thoughts needs any help with that. Oh and I'd love to get ahold of an M60 too! (Do you think my FOID card will cover that?)
I appreciated reading your comments on privacy. I think that for me, what it comes down to is safety and is someone going to use my blog against me later. Maybe so. And maybe someone will go through the effort to track down all my personal info and stalk me, but they can do that even without a blog. I just choose what I don't want to reveal about myself to make it a little harder for the psychos out there.
As a side note, unrelated to this post, I replied to your comments on my blog earlier. One alternative to Cafe Press is a service run by Zazzle (http://www.zazzle.com/). Just wanted to pass on the word. All the best!
Posted by: The Patriette at January 20, 2004 10:06 PMJennifer - I highly admire a woman who can take care of herself! Far too few women even try. *G*
As for privacy, I'm very glad to know there is a way to keep personal information private now. The problem with the internet is that when it started, everyone online knew everyone else. It was never built for security - it was built to be robust in case of disaster.
As usual when something grows and grows fast, much is left behind that would be better changed. One of those things is the information of domain owners. Computer security geeks have been hollering for ages about securing systems and information - but it is a difficult task, taking time and money. And how many times has some sort of computer security at work made you grumble and think - what the heck is THIS for except to cause me trouble.
The thing is no one wants to be bothered with security unless something actually happens to them. And until you can convince enough people that there is a problem - nothing changes. So, we have one more little piece changing for the good. It's a slow process, but maybe we will arrive at the point someday where the internet doesn't resemble the wild west so much.
Posted by: Teresa at January 20, 2004 10:24 PMFOP SALE: One genuine M60. It's an automatic --- just point and scare. Never fired. Any reasonable offer considered. FOID cards accepted.
Posted by: Mr. Whacko at January 21, 2004 04:53 AMThanks JD, but it looks like I'd have to transfer my registration over to Network Solutions. Unless I'm not reading it right.
Thanks Matt! I am just lost without my trusty 60.
Jennifer Martinez sends
Posted by: Jennifer Martinez at January 21, 2004 02:59 PMJen - I've got plenty of stuff in the basement we can work a long term loan on.
Posted by: John of Argghhh! at January 21, 2004 08:32 PMJD - thanks for the heads-up! If you check WHOIS now, you'll find our info is now private.
For those of you with Hosting Matters - if you go to the help desk page and send 'em a note, they'll get your data private. It took all of 15 minutes from my first note to final resolution. Nice service, guys! At my suggestion, they are probably going to put that info in their faqs. Right now, you have to know how to ask - but it's easy. Just tell 'em you want your WHOIS data private and they'll fix it.
Posted by: John of Arrgghhh! at January 22, 2004 11:15 AM