I have a Beef about profiles

tucker1931 · #1 06-15-2008, 06:56 AM

Dang, being fairly new here, when I see a new name appear in the forum I usually check the profile of the person that has posted. Nine times out of ten the dang thing is blank. What's the matter with you people, are you ashamed of who you are? When I meet someone new I always introduce myself and in a face to face situation in conversation these topics always come up and also you can judge a persons age if they don't happen to mention it, but here, heck I'm meeting people and chatting (making comments) and I might as well be chatting with a wall. Come on folks lets use the profile for the reason it's put there, we are all friends on this forum. I really don't have enough time left in my life to meet new friends on a personal level (it takes too long to train them) but here on the forum, I have so many new friends that have been so helpful to me. Thanks to all of my friends.
Cliff

blanchard65 · #2 06-15-2008, 07:26 AM

ok I updated profile. I don't put my profile on alot of sites because I am concerned about idoneity theft. But there are a lot of great people on this site that I will *** profile

tucker1931 · #3 06-15-2008, 07:33 AM

Blanchard65, GOOD FOR YOU, thats a start and I'll bet, "it didn't hurt a bit" common gang, jump in here, it's fun to meet youir new friends.
Cliff

brian bailey · #4 06-15-2008, 07:56 AM

Call me paranoid, but I don't put much personal info on public forums.

Even on my website I'm stingy with personal info.

This is a wonderful forum and I don't believe any of the registered members would cause one harm. But, there are also several hundred guests that visit this site at any given moment that you don't have any clue who they are!

I've always felt that the exchange of personal info is best done with a PM.

It only takes one scoundrel to cause you harm.

Paul_Guraedy · #5 06-15-2008, 08:32 AM

I used to be a lot like those who are hesistant about putting out personal information.

What changed my mind? Well, a few weeks ago I "googled" my name. Having an unusual name can be an advantage as I did not have to sift through a lot of similar ones to find mine. I found quite a few references (many relating to the WCI forum). Most were of little concern.

Then I found a couple that "looked different". I clicked on them and.....WOW, there was my: address (with location map), phone number (luckily not the cell phone), email address (no wonder I am getting so much spam) and even the month and year of my birth (at least they left off the day). I have no idea where they got all of this information.

I realized that anyone with "evil intent" would be aware of these sites and not bother with something like the WCI Forum. This did not stop my worrying, it just eased my concern about this kind of information on our Forum.

I asked my son (computer software engineer) about this. He told me, "it's easy to get your name and then I can find out a heck of a lot about you; learn the date of birth and I have the key to a lot of doors, add the social security number and I can learn just about anything I want about you."

"What!", I exclaimed.

He continued, "It is almost impossible to stop someone from getting all of this information. Just don't make it easy for them by putting it in one location. Thieves, like anyone else, will take the easy way out and go for those who make it convenient."

That is why I never list my DOB and SSN.

Scary world we live in aint it!!!

Lynn O. Doughty · #6 06-15-2008, 08:48 AM

While I never give out any financial information about myself I have nothing else to hide. I too get a little aggravated when I check a profile to see a blank page. If Big Brother or any other sinister forces out there don't have your life history by now then you must live such an uninteresting life they're not interested. Naturally I don't publish everything about my existance but if someone really wants to know just ask.

tucker1931 · #7 06-15-2008, 09:04 AM

Way to go Paul and Lynn, I do hope this post goes for 20 pages or more. Thanks guys I knew you were there.
Cliff

Ashbys · #8 06-15-2008, 09:16 AM

Cliff,

Many people don't give out much information when they first sign into a site. Paul is very correct and ID theft is very real. get place of birth, mothers madien name and more doors unlock. I rarley put information on a new site. It is a shame we live in a world that you have to be guarded , but better safe than sorry .

Ash

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #9 06-15-2008, 09:26 AM

Well Google in their infinite wisdom (stupidity) have all kinds of info on people, you can get rid of theirs however. Here is one where you can get rid of your phone number Google PhoneBook Name Removal

Just Carving · #10 06-15-2008, 09:36 AM

I updated my profile. You don't have to have you date of birth displayed at all--you can just show your age--which I do often here! LOL

ADMIN--you need to look at the profile formatting. On mine it's doing weird things when I put spaces in--almost like I'm tabbing instead of using the space bar. It's kind of annoying to read the way it is right now. Thanks!

Bob L