How private are you?

[the captians wench]

Okay, this actually wasn't inspired by any sort of BDSM but rather a customer call I recieved today.

A customer called in a complaint, and naturally when I'm going to replace an order, I asked for his name. He says John. Well John is a pretty common name, so I asked for a last name, and he asks me if he has to give me one.

This always strikes me as odd, but it happens frequently actually. There are only a few reasons why I even ask for a last name. One is if I suspect the person is lieing to me (which wasn't the case this time, I knew he got the wrong food). Another is if I suspect the person of calling in and complaining a lot. I mean sinsere or not, we can only give you so many free meals before your business just isn't worth the cost. And the last one is the one that aplies here, it was a very common first name.

I ended up telling him an initial would do, but I could help but wonder why on earth would any one refuse to give their last name.

I know I tend to be more open with information and more trusting than I should be. I've had first meets with people at my apt, and let the guy drive me around on a blind date. I've given my phone number to random people and even given my address to internet surveys.

There are things I won't fork over, like my SS number, or driver's licence number. But for the most part, if you could find it by some other means, I tend to give it out.

So this leads to my question. What information about your self will you absolutely not give out to some one you don't really know? And why do you hide so much or little.

 

[wynnie]

information.

I tend to be the same way.. very open. I have found that while it makes friends easily..It also leaves you open to trouble. I dont easily give out my name. even the name i use here is fake. I dont give out my address. I usually choose the biggest city in my state as my location instead of my real city.
the information i do give out... well.. i am very honest with who i am as a person. what happens to be going on in my life.
My husband tells me to make everything up ... never trust anyone on the internet. Smiles.. he just worries about me. I tend to be very trusting..as i tend to be honest i believe most people are honest too.. Which we all know isnt the case. So I understand he just wants me safe.
Those that do have my real name are friends of mine. Ones that I have come to trust.

 

[catalina_francisco]

F is more closed than me, but I am fast catching up with him. In these days of identity theft, and its increasing ease of being achieved, I am becoming very cautious about what and to whom I give out information. Once upon a time I was fairly open, though on the internet I was more careful, but times are a changing.

Catalina

 

[graceanne]

I'm pretty private, I guess. Although it depends on the circumstances. If I was calling in a complaint I wouldn't worry about giving my last name. I would, though, refuse to give my SS# or drivers license number. Online I don't use my real name, I don't use the names of those close to me (like calling my hubby K). I will only give a general idea of where I live, I won't say where my kids go to school or where my husband works. I won't put pictures of my tykes up (if there's a pic of me and then I blurr their faces). I rarely put pictures of me or K up. To tell the truth I don't think their's any of K, but I could be wrong. And I do not do nude pics or anything else.

That said I have a seperate email address and IM addy for those I know and my family. I have two seperate myspace accounts, one for preserving my anonymity (sp?) and another that my sisters know about, and several church members, and my neighbors . . . etc.

I'm private in other ways, though. I dont' talk about marriage problems or personal problems with just about anyone. I dont talk about my feelings that much. Hell, I have trouble talking about those things with K, I won't do it with anyone else.

 

[graceanne]

F is more closed than me, but I am fast catching up with him. In these days of identity theft, and its increasing ease of being achieved, I am becoming very cautious about what and to whom I give out information. Once upon a time I was fairly open, though on the internet I was more careful, but times are a changing.

Catalina

You should be. In most states in the US, these days, you can get someone's birth certificate online. All you need to know is their names, their parents names, where and when they were born, and where there parents were born. Hell, I know that on most of my family (and I have a crap load of family). With a birth certificate you can take it, and some mail and get state id or a drivers license. With state id or a drivers license, and a piece of mail, you can get a social security card. It's frankly ridiculously easy.

 

[Chicklet]

Ah, privacy and trust.

I am extremely trusting. A lot of times I don't feel weird about giving out very personal information, if I'm talking to a person that I unreasonably trust, HOWEVER, I stop myself from doing it.

I don't give out my address. I'll give my neighborhood but not my specific streets. I'll give the kind of restaurant I work in but not the name. I'll give my last name, but it's EXTREMELY common and I'm not very concerned about it. I'll give my phone number to people I want to call me, but I don't especially want anyone to call. If I feel uncomfortable giving my last name in a situation, I'll use my middle name as my last name. The fact that I can spell it forwards and backwards helps the credibility... (in the case of your complaint, Wenchie, i think him giving a middle name would have been enough credibility without revealing his identity.)

Sometimes in stores when you make a purchase they ask for your phone number, and I never give it. However, when I take something in as a return and they want my phone number, I give it. I know that they just want to make sure the same person isn't mysteriously returning a ton of things.

So, while I don't feel the need to be very private, I do retain my privacy because I know it's the smarter thing to do.

A good stalker could easily find me. A half-assed stalker could easily find me. Luckily, there aren't THAT many crazies out there.

 

[Penalt]

I work in tech support/customer service (HP clj printers) and we on average there get one or two people a week who don't want to give out the information we generally ask for to start a tech support case. Thankfully I have the option of using generic names but we once had a person who heard the part "This call may be recorded to ensure customer service" and flipped.

They wanted to find out if the call was indeed being taped and if it was having the recording disabled. The agent told the person they had no control over it (its random) and could not find out for sure because of that. Eventually the person gave a name, which we were pretty sure was fake and we did the tech support for them. During the dianosis we found out they had a bad cartridge. So the agent told the person,"Okay the cartridge is in warranty so just let me have your address and I'll have one Fedex 'ed to you for tomorrow."

The person completely lost it that he had been asked for his address and after a 4 or 5 minute profanity laden tirade hung up......Now thats private.

Me, I've been burned once or twice so I'm a little careful. Some info I will give right away. Some I won't unless its to a government agent.

 

[Toa_lin]

well, I'm extremely "closed" or private. If I don't know u, then my first name is prolly all ur gonna get unless absolutely nescesary otherwise. And then only soo much b4 i simply decide it's not worth it and move on. Why? I guess cus when I was younger I was the one who every1 tried to walk all over then got to the point no-longer wanted to stand it, so simply locked myself up tight, and have been that way since. Sorry to reminisque about my past, but i figured it'd explain the present.

 

[Yasashii_Kaze]

I'm very private. Anywhere online where I have a last name, it is a fake one. I'm naturally very skeptical of other people, and find it very difficult to trust anyone. I tend to stay on my guard with someone until I'm sure of their intentions. It makes it difficult for me to make friends, but the ones I have I'm extremely close to.

 

[LordHawk]

I'm extremely private. I don't trust anybody and never have. Even on my MSN messenger I always used a nickname instead of my real one cause people I knew online were put online. I met my little one online and we are now married and living together and I don't even know how long it took me to give her my real name when we were still just online. I also found being in the chatrooms a great way to make up things about myself. I suppose I could play who I wanted to be instead of who I really was. My little one suspects my trust problems comes from an issue with a babysitter when I was young but who knows. I'd rather expect the worst and be pleasantly suprised then the other way around.

 

[SweetCherry]

I am quite trusting, but I'm getting more caiutious, especialy after a recent scam attempt on me. I had someone posing as a medicare worker who was needing my "identification number" from my bank to send me a medicare companion card. Turned out she was trying to get my bank routing number. Called the Social Security folks and they confirmed it was a scam and my protesting to the woman who called me, and her evnetually hang-up of the phone was a good thing.

 

[DomRick]

Everything has always been on a need to know basis.

 

[Netzach]

I am really elated that if I google my real actual name I get two really weird and useless hits.

 

[Etoile]

I am actually way less private than I should be. There's a lot on the web about me, it's possible to find my real address, etc. I'm awfully incautious. My mother, on the other hand, is extremely private and is shocked by how open I am.

 

[A Desert Rose]

What a silly question in regard to me... LOL

Actually, I'm pretty private online and at Lit. Most people know my first name. Only 2 know my last name. Most people think it's Danna, as in RoxannaDanna. ;-) Very few have my phone number and it's a cell number. No one has my home number. One person has my actual mailing address. I work in several facilities so it would be hard to find me at my job.

And really what are the odds that someone would come to Las Vegas looking for a nurse named Roxanne?



hmmmmm... My mind is on an odd ODDS track today...

 

[brioche]

I am really elated that if I google my real actual name I get two really weird and useless hits.

Me too. There's someone out there in a professional area that has the same first, last, middle.

I'm very private. I'll talk about stuff about my life, but only two people here know my real name and only one person knows my address (because they were supposed to send something to me). I suppose if you were on a "Find who brioche is" and studied my posts you could slowly work it out, but it'd take a hell of a long time.

And frankly, I'm not that interesting. I'm private because I teach. And because I'm a private person.

 

[gargouille]

I tend to be very private too. I've talked of my transitional status but never any identifying details. The closest that I've come is when someone asked for references to Dr's who work with transitioning patients.

 

[BeachGurl2]

I'm private about very important things - SSN, DL#, etc. - that could get people anywhere. But I'm pretty open in general. Many people here know my first name and where I live. There are some here who have my cell number. I've posted my face pic here, but only left it up a couple of days before taking it down again. All other pics of me online are sans head/face. I have a myspace, but it's strictly to keep up with my daughters and nephews and their friends. In fact, all of my friends on my myspace are teenagers and early 20s kids. The email address I use for online stuff only shows my first name. My IM only has my first name. I don't give out my home phone number, only my cell number. And I'll tell people the major cross streets where I live - in the city this could mean anything but at least they have a general idea. I don't mind people knowing what I do for work, and as there are a large number of tech companies in Phoenix, people would be hard pressed to find me that way.

An ex of mine was so paranoid that he gave an inaccurate mailing address to the company he worked for. He wouldn't shop at Circle K because if you used a debit card at the pumps, it asked for a zip code. When we applied for membership at APEX, he gave an address that was several years old and told me I should do that same. Whatever.

The way I see it is that it is almost child's play to steal identities these days. No matter how careful I am, if someone truly wants to do it, they will be able to. I'm not going to lose sleep over it or stop doing things I normally do just on the off chance that someone will be stopped from stealing my identity.

Wenchie, I am a little worried about something you said in your original post, though. Allowing first meets to pick you up at your apartment is a bit scary to me. Yes, I've ridden in their car after meeting them, but I never let them know where I live. And maybe it's more because I'm a mom and have my 12yo daughter living with me that I'm so protective of that. And the thought that this person could turn out to be a stalker or worse, if they know where you live it can get scary. Just something to think about, hon.

 

[lil_slave_rose]

Okay, this actually wasn't inspired by any sort of BDSM but rather a customer call I recieved today.

A customer called in a complaint, and naturally when I'm going to replace an order, I asked for his name. He says John. Well John is a pretty common name, so I asked for a last name, and he asks me if he has to give me one.

This always strikes me as odd, but it happens frequently actually. There are only a few reasons why I even ask for a last name. One is if I suspect the person is lieing to me (which wasn't the case this time, I knew he got the wrong food). Another is if I suspect the person of calling in and complaining a lot. I mean sinsere or not, we can only give you so many free meals before your business just isn't worth the cost. And the last one is the one that aplies here, it was a very common first name.

I ended up telling him an initial would do, but I could help but wonder why on earth would any one refuse to give their last name.

I know I tend to be more open with information and more trusting than I should be. I've had first meets with people at my apt, and let the guy drive me around on a blind date. I've given my phone number to random people and even given my address to internet surveys.

There are things I won't fork over, like my SS number, or driver's licence number. But for the most part, if you could find it by some other means, I tend to give it out.

So this leads to my question. What information about your self will you absolutely not give out to some one you don't really know? And why do you hide so much or little.

good question, and the thing is with your full name someone can find out ALOT about you...a whole lot. especially with your phone number, address, etc...i don't give out that kind of information to much of anyone, my last name isn't such a big thing to me, but phone number, no way am i giving that to someone i barely know, my address either, my last name alot of times online mainly because they can pretty much find anything they want if they have your name, so while you're not giving out your SS# they could very easily find it if they have the other right information....

 

[bridgeburner]

Dude, I'm listed at IMDB.

Bizarre.

 

[FurryFury]

I'm pretty private. One could even say I was paranoid. However when given a choice I surround myself with people to socialize with that I feel are loving and tolerant. With them I can say and talk about almost anything, while maintaining our relationships.

Family (outside the nuclear one I've helped make), work and those sorts of things, are very different scenarios.

Fury

 

[SpectreT]

I am really elated that if I google my real actual name I get two really weird and useless hits.

You mean I'm not the only one? Well, there's a PDF of a Chamber of Commerce Newsletter that mentions my name, but that's it.

But no, not paranoid. Reasonably cautious, but not paranoid. See my face over to the left, there? Not worried about it. Someone wants to find me, IP address sniffers are easy.

 

[marieR19]

I tend to be pretty open (too open, some would say) about what information I give to who. I don't readily give information over the phone, but that's because of bad experiences with telemarketers.

Online, I use my real first name or my middle name, and usually use my mom's maiden name as my last name (since I consider myself more a Ross, anyways). I use real names when talking about friends in blogs and stuff, talk about real places, and will give my address over the internet if it's someone I trust, even if I haven't met them face to face.


Heather

 

[callinectes]

When online I try to remain as private as possible. I seldom reveal exactly where I live though I will make a reference to the general area. I never reveal my employment info. I will say that I am a little more open if I am posting on something like a home decorating site but I use different names on each board I post on. When I google my real name I get a fair number of hits, all are work related (documents, public meetings, or newspaper articles). That is a little unsettling but there isn't much I can do about it.

As far as giving out my phone number or address, I don't give that out online but I don't hesitate to give it to someone I am doing business with.

 

[FurryFury]

Online there are certain key things I do not give out at all. OTOH, there are many things I will talk about that make me appear to be quite open.

Fury