+vegaschick Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I just wanted to make everyone aware of the following issue: Google has now tagged every single person that has an account with www.geocaching.com. I went to Google the other day and typed in my geocaching nickname and quite a few things came up (because I use the same nickname for other sites), including several of my geocaching logs and my profile. You can try it for yourself too. I can't imagine that no one doesn't think this is a big deal, but I'm a little freaked out. I don't mind opening up and sharing my life with fellow geocachers, but I don't like the idea that ANYONE in the WORLD can pull up my information and a picture of me, and from my logs, possibly be able to figure out the area in which I live. I'm not upset with the geocaching site and I'm not going to cancel my account, but I also don't want to "start over" by opening a new account and changing my nickname obviously doesn't work. I just found an e-mail address for Google, so I'll report this to them and see what they say. Anyone else's opinion? Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Anyone else's opinion? You posted it to the Internet. What did you expect? Quote Link to comment
+Team Teuton Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 That's what Google does. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) I just wanted to make everyone aware of the following issue: Google has now tagged every single person that has an account with www.geocaching.com. I went to Google the other day and typed in my geocaching nickname and quite a few things came up (because I use the same nickname for other sites), including several of my geocaching logs and my profile. You can try it for yourself too. I can't imagine that no one doesn't think this is a big deal, but I'm a little freaked out. I don't mind opening up and sharing my life with fellow geocachers, but I don't like the idea that ANYONE in the WORLD can pull up my information and a picture of me, and from my logs, possibly be able to figure out the area in which I live. I'm not upset with the geocaching site and I'm not going to cancel my account, but I also don't want to "start over" by opening a new account and changing my nickname obviously doesn't work. I just found an e-mail address for Google, so I'll report this to them and see what they say. Anyone else's opinion? I once had a zany, wacky, obsessed cyberstalker from an internet message board. That k00k would have done anything to find out my real name and address. Fortunately, this was before I started geocaching, and I didn't use same username on this website. This was because, the first thing that popped into my head was that I could be pin-pointed to a specific geographical area on geocaching.com. And believe me, this guy spent thousands of hours "googling" me So yeah, I think it's unfortunate that someone can track you to a specific geographical area for sure. But as someone else said, you posted it to the internet. And my k00k has long since forgotten about me, and moved on to other internet k00kery. Not that any of y'all were concerned about me Edited October 20, 2006 by TheWhiteUrkel Quote Link to comment
+fishingfools Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 ther are even some k00ks who will search all your records and logs here Quote Link to comment
+El Diablo Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 My username is so common, that you will really have to dig deep to find me. It's not that Google is targeting geocachers, they target most internet sites. They send out Bots that crawl the internet sites gathering information. El Diablo Quote Link to comment
+SniperChicken Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 its the internet...somewhere,sometime ,somehow someone is going to run across that info. The era of "public domain info"..it is spooky kinda though. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) I once had a zany, wacky, obsessed cyberstalker from an internet message board. That k00k would have done anything to find out my real name and address. Fortunately, this was before I started geocaching, and I didn't use same username on this website. This was because, the first thing that popped into my head was that I could be pin-pointed to a specific geographical area on geocaching.com. And believe me, this guy spent thousands of hours "googling" me So yeah, I think it's unfortunate that someone can track you to a specific geographical area for sure. And my k00k has long since forgotten about me, and moved on to other internet k00kery. Not that any of y'all were concerned about me Come on, I said I was sorry. Let it go. ... Anyone else's opinion?Google is a search engine. If something is on the internet, Google hopefully will find it. Have you ever tried to search on your real name? Edited October 20, 2006 by sbell111 Quote Link to comment
+mtn-man Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 How funny. I actually want mine high on their list. Quote Link to comment
+vegaschick Posted October 20, 2006 Author Share Posted October 20, 2006 its the internet...somewhere,sometime ,somehow someone is going to run across that info. The era of "public domain info"..it is spooky kinda though. I've googled my real name before, but the information that comes up is non-specific as far as my location. Here's another issue: my picture is all over the geocaching site because I've done a few virtual caches that require a picture post. So now, do I delete the picture? Will the owner allow that? I know it's the information age and public domain, but shouldn't it stop somewhere? Quote Link to comment
+dkwolf Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Eh. For the thousands of posts I have in online forums, google only hit three entries of my username that were actually me. One post on gc.com, one post on iowaoutdoors.org, and one on a waymark I approved a few months ago. Not worried. If you really want a scare, google your name, phone number, address, and if you're brave, social security number. Quote Link to comment
+Mudfrog Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 How funny. I actually want mine high on their list. HAHA, i did a search and my Geocaching profile came up second on the list! To Vegaschick, we probably don't even want to think how much info there is out there on us. Yes it is kinda scary but it wouldn't matter if we used the internet or not, there would still be information that one could find on each of us. Quote Link to comment
+ThePropers Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) HAHA, i did a search and my Geocaching profile came up second on the list! To Vegaschick, we probably don't even want to think how much info there is out there on us. Yes it is kinda scary but it wouldn't matter if we used the internet or not, there would still be information that one could find on each of us. Mine is first! Actually, the first 5 links are all my stuff but my gc profile is the first link. If you don't want your pictures/info on the internet, don't post stuff to it. Edited October 20, 2006 by ThePropers Quote Link to comment
+biosearch Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 If you are that concerned about it you can always change your user name to something that is so common that it would take work to find it. My user name is also the name of a couple of different companies, bio tech companies, biological/environmental tour companies, biographical search engines, etc. It takes going through 10 pages of google results to find anything that has to do with me. And then Waymarking shows up... Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I'm pretty safe from googling even if you know my real name. Just try... NotThePainter aka "Paul Cezanne" Quote Link to comment
+Wile E. Dragonfly Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Eh. For the thousands of posts I have in online forums, google only hit three entries of my username that were actually me. One post on gc.com, one post on iowaoutdoors.org, and one on a waymark I approved a few months ago. Not worried. If you really want a scare, google your name, phone number, address, and if you're brave, social security number. I was brave and tried my ss#... and all I got was a maze. The one billion maze site - should have everyone's number in it. http://www.onebillionmazes.com/ Was nice to find that I couldn't find it though... I had found my user name before... and had never thought of it like that, so glad that this name is only for gc stuff. But, I tried looking at user profiles without being logged into the site and it won't let you do that... not that a true stalker or creep wouldn't be able to make an account just to look at it, but the casual person probably (hopefully?) isn't that motivated. Of course, this is why when we take pictures with the cameras in caches or post pictures on stuff - we try do it without our faces in it. The Monster dog is more than welcome to show his goofy face, but ours will remain cropped off... Not that we're paranoid or anything... Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 its the internet...somewhere,sometime ,somehow someone is going to run across that info. The era of "public domain info"..it is spooky kinda though. I've googled my real name before, but the information that comes up is non-specific as far as my location. Here's another issue: my picture is all over the geocaching site because I've done a few virtual caches that require a picture post. So now, do I delete the picture? Will the owner allow that? I know it's the information age and public domain, but shouldn't it stop somewhere? Like the OP, I originally had the same username all over the internet. I imagine many people do. I would have never thought everything I posted on the internet from the day Al Gore invented it until 2002 would one day be read by some obsessed kook. But it is kind of scary, just from geocaching.com, your general geographic area and picture (probably several of them) easily obtained, and a pretty good chance the majority of your caches placed are in your own city or town. Not to mention any info in your cache desriptions or logs, like "I grew up a few blocks from this park, and hung out there as a teenager". Or how about "I couldn't pass up an FTF less than a mile from home"? Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Hokey smokes!!!! when did that happen? Not just my GC.com profile and posts, but my profile on nearly every other website I've ever joined . Sheesh, now I have to go through this to see what is there. Oddly enough my posts here are listed but only a very small portion of them. I wonder why. Quote Link to comment
+ThePropers Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) Hokey smokes!!!! when did that happen? Not just my GC.com profile and posts, but my profile on nearly every other website I've ever joined . Sheesh, now I have to go through this to see what is there. Oddly enough my posts here are listed but only a very small portion of them. I wonder why. I never really did this with my username, but it's fun. My old youtube playlist even shows up. Maybe I should've just named myself "Proper" My real name doesn't return anything...or rather it returns thousands of results that have nothing to do with me. Edited October 20, 2006 by ThePropers Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Oddly enough my posts here are listed but only a very small portion of them. I wonder why. Google can't afford enough disk space to index them all... Quote Link to comment
+The GeoGadgets Team Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 This doesn't worry me, but then I've been aware of what compiling software can do for over ten years. The very nature of the Internet/World Wide Web is easy access to information, no matter what that might be. Good or bad. How else did people like Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton become so famous? Yep, thanks to the 'net. And now, whenever someone googles Ms. Smith and Ms. Hilton, my user name will pop up... how cool is that? What did kind of disturb me, though, was when Googling my Team name, that there are Geocaches named after us that we have gotten no credit for, nor were we asked permission to use our team name, which is copyrighted. I suppose I wouldn't be so upset if they weren't using an image of a cartoon character that I can not stand... Yuck! And yes, that series of caches came about LONG after we became Geocachers and began using the Team name (since October 2001), and we've cached in that area, so it isn't like we are unknown... I mean, all they had to do was Google the term, right? Quote Link to comment
+vegaschick Posted October 20, 2006 Author Share Posted October 20, 2006 If you are that concerned about it you can always change your user name to something that is so common that it would take work to find it. My user name is also the name of a couple of different companies, bio tech companies, biological/environmental tour companies, biographical search engines, etc. It takes going through 10 pages of google results to find anything that has to do with me. And then Waymarking shows up... Groundspeak/Geocaching changed the website in May so that you can't change your username any longer. I don't want to start up a new profile and lose all of my finds. Quote Link to comment
+GreyingJay Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I did a search for my username and Google keeps asking if I meant "GreyGay", which is some kind of porn site Quote Link to comment
+denali7 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I've tried it before, and was amazed at how common my username is. That may be a good thing! Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 If it is on a web page that isn't somehow protected then google (as with anybody else) can see it. Google simply chooses to index and keep the info. You put it out in front of the public and the public can find it. Sadly in the first 4 pages of search returns - there is only one of my caches listed and nothing else. Quote Link to comment
+Kit Fox Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 If you think Google is scary, try www.zabasearch.com : ZabaSearch Claim: Your personal information can be obtained through the Zabasearch.com web site. Status: True. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2006] Beginning this month (JULY '06) a new database will be available to the general public free of charge that displays your personal information (names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates). (Soc. Sec. is available for a price.) The database is found at http://www.zabasearch.com/ type in your name and check ... You'll be SHOCKED as I was! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Collected on the Internet, 2005] I am sending this to everyone in my address book, and I urge all of you to do the same. Check to see if your name is in this Zabasearch database, which also includes addresses, phone numbers and birth dates. If it's there and you want it removed, send them an e-mail at info@zabasearch.com to request it. They will be launching this site in May for EVERYONE to see!!! I don't know how our names are appearing there, but I checked my own and a few other random ones, and they are all in this database! Please send this on to all your friends and family ASAP! To check, log on to www.zabasearch.com. After opting out at info@zabasearch.com by email I guess the only way to know for sure you have been removed is to check back a few days later. This is unbelievable. Origins: We originally reported on ZabaSearch in response to email-circulated warnings back in May 2005, so the appearance of similar messages more than a year later, warning that ZabaSearch would be "available to the general public" in July 2006, is somewhat misleading ... and suspiciously coincidental. Since we received so many inquiries like the ones quoted above about the ZabaSearch.com web site, in the spirit of "taking one for the team" I ponied up $20 and ran a search on myself to ascertain what kind of information could be accessed through that site. What information is provided? Upon submitting my payment, I was presented with a "satellite photograph" of my residence (actually an overhead view of a portion of the apartment complex where I lived several years ago) and a message telling me that I would receive a full report within one day. The 15-page "Comprehensive Report" I was e-mailed the next day looked like it had been compiled from some publicly-available sources and some automated guesswork. It contained some valid information mixed in with a lot of bad and outdated information. The report did correctly list my full name (no big deal, since I had to supply my name to run the report) and birthdate (month and year only). It did not include a current phone number for me, only an outdated one. Although it listed my current residential address, it also included two outdated former addresses, two private mailbox addresses, and a former work address. It didn't seem to know the difference between these various types of addresses (it considered them all to be residence addresses), nor did it know which one was current. The report also correctly identified my ex-wife as a "possible relative" and listed her name, phone number, and several (former and current) addresses. It didn't include any of my blood relatives, however, even though my parents live just a few miles away. The report included a whole lot of entries identifying my putative neighbors, most of which were useless because the information was either outdated (i.e., it identified people who live near residences I moved out of years ago) or irrelevant (i.e., it listed people who live adjacent to the businesses I've rented private mailboxes from). The report did not include my Social Security number or any employment information. It did correctly note that I had no bankruptcy or criminal records. Where does the information come from? ZabaSearch neither originates nor stores the information it provides. It is an information aggregator that compiles information obtained from publicly available sources and provides it to paying customers: ZabaSearch does not gather or generate information. ZabaSearch quickly accesses public information and displays what is available in the public domain. Many people assume ZabaSearch controls the information found in ZabaSearch results pages. However, ZabaSearch simply serves as a search engine in locating available public records and does not create the records found. Information typically makes it to the public domain via a wide variety of sources, including but not limited to: phone listings, court records, real property records, subscriptions etc. Sources vary state by state and region by region. Unlike ZabaSearch, there are many companies who do gather, generate, compile, house and sell public information, most of which are publicly traded. This practice is, and always has been, legal in the United States and is the basis for the 2 billion dollar U.S. information industry. It is important to note that blocking your personal information from being obtained through ZabaSearch will not remove your personal information from the underlying sources used by ZabaSearch. Those records will still exist and will still be publicly accessible, so the same information provided by Zabasearch will still be available to others, either working on their own or using other information aggregators similar to ZabaSearch. How can you prevent your personal information from being obtained through ZabaSearch? In response to queries, ZabaSearch provide instructions that an individual can follow to block his personal information from being obtained through Zabasearch. All such requests must be made in writing and submitted via U.S. mail: In order to create, edit, or block your record, all for free, you must make that request in writing and mail it to: ZabaTools 2828 Cochran Street, #397 Simi Valley, California 93065. Receiving requests by mail allows us to verify and process your requests quickly. Records created, edited and ZabaLinks added may take up to several weeks to appear in ZabaSearch. Records requested to be blocked are typically processed the next business day after receiving the request. You will be notified by e-mail when you request enters our system and then once more when the requested records have been adjusted. Please specify if you want to create, edit, delete a record. In order to fill your request your letter must contain the following information to insure we create, edit or delete the correct records. After you confirm by e-mail that we processed your request, your letter and the information you provided in it will be shredded. You will have created a record for yourself just as you like it and will be eventually given online tools to adjust your information as you like live in ZabaSearch 24/7. 1. E-mail address 2. Full name including middle initial 3. Address of the record you wish to create, edit or delete 4. Phone number you wish to have removed 5. Year of birth. 6. Specify if you are requesting to create, edit or delete a record. 7. Sign and date your request This procedure puts requestors in something of a Catch-22 position, though, since you don't really want to provide even more personal information to an entity your're trying to stop from giving out your personal information. You don't want to tell them anything more than they already know, but you may not be able to determine how much they know without paying them to run a search on yourself. We'd advise those who undertake the effort to have their records blocked to use throwaway e-mail accounts for the purpose, and (if possible) to use old addresses and phone numbers (i.e., from previous residences or workplaces). Again, keep in mind that blocking your personal information from being obtained through ZabaSearch will not remove your personal information from the underlying sources used by ZabaSearch Quote Link to comment
+1NatureMom Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) Hmmmm....I am also a registered cacher in the geocaching Australia site! Go figure! Couldnt be any further from my home coords. Hey, I wanna see my criminal record! Edited October 20, 2006 by 1NatureMom Quote Link to comment
GoLeft Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I too am registered in the Austrailian site, although I dont recall ever being south of the equator. Odd. That ZabaSearch is pretty wild. (and scary) Quote Link to comment
+uxorious Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) When I entered just my user name I got seventy some-odd pages of hits, and not one had to do with me! ( The first several were just definitions of Uxorious.) Then I entered geocaching.com after my user name and came up with several hits not only from this forum, but from another I go to. I did find it funny that goggle asked ---"DID YOU MEAN TO SEARCH FOR AMOROUS GEOCACHING.COM" I then entered my real name, and there are lots of hits for an antique store art gallery, and for a Cell biologist. Plus some others. Skimmed through the pages and only saw myself on a couple genealogy pages my niece is doing. None of this bothers me at all. However, I can sure understand how some people would not be comfortable with it. Maybe someone someday will figure a good program to protect from it, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Edited October 20, 2006 by uxorious Quote Link to comment
+The Cheeseheads Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 How funny. I actually want mine high on their list. I just checked mine, and I'm the #2 result. I can't believe I never bothered to grab "thecheeseheads.com"... Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I too am registered in the Austrailian site, although I dont recall ever being south of the equator. Odd. I'm on the Australian site because I found a couple of LCs that were listed as being in Australia and because I owned an LC that was 'found' in Australia. Quote Link to comment
GoLeft Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I too am registered in the Austrailian site, although I dont recall ever being south of the equator. Odd. I'm on the Australian site because I found a couple of LCs that were listed as being in Australia and because I owned an LC that was 'found' in Australia. That makes sense now. After a little research, it would appear that you and I logged the lame LC within 3 weeks of each other - nearly 4 1/2 years ago. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 ... After a little research, it would appear that you and I logged the lame LC within 3 weeks of each other - nearly 4 1/2 years ago. I do what I can. Quote Link to comment
+parker313 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I've got an online business. I can only afford to be so cautious. I want to be available to my customers and not look like I'm trying to hide. I also post on quite a few message boards, and I always use the same username. I've known for quite a while that if someone googled my username, they'd get my message board posts. It's just one consequence of maintaining an online presence. If you Google my real name, you get info about some gymnast out at UCLA. Apparently she's quite good! Quote Link to comment
+9Key Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Funny, my Navicache profile comes up well before my profile on this site. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I too am registered in the Austrailian site, although I dont recall ever being south of the equator. Odd. I'm on the Australian site because I found a couple of LCs that were listed as being in Australia and because I owned an LC that was 'found' in Australia. That makes sense now. After a little research, it would appear that you and I logged the lame LC within 3 weeks of each other - nearly 4 1/2 years ago. Ah yes, Radio K.A.O.S. required you to listen to a radio program (or read the transcript) and answer questions. And anyone who's logged it has 1 find in Australia, according to that Austrailian website. I remember, because it's the only locationless I ever logged, as I quickly deemed them too lame, even when I was a newbie Nice Avatar there GoLeft. Is there any way you can work that "peed in my cheerios" quote in there? Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I too am registered in the Austrailian site, although I dont recall ever being south of the equator. Odd.I'm on the Australian site because I found a couple of LCs that were listed as being in Australia and because I owned an LC that was 'found' in Australia.That makes sense now. After a little research, it would appear that you and I logged the lame LC within 3 weeks of each other - nearly 4 1/2 years ago.Ah yes, Radio K.A.O.S. required you to listen to a radio program (or read the transcript) and answer questions. And anyone who's logged it has 1 find in Australia, according to that Austrailian website. I remember, because it's the only locationless I ever logged, as I quickly deemed them too lame, even when I was a newbie Nice Avatar there GoLeft. Is there any way you can work that "peed in my cheerios" quote in there? In the defense of LCs everywhere, Radio KAOS wasn't really an LC. It was more of a couch-cache. Quote Link to comment
+CraigInCT Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I wonder why google doesn't list my YAHOO stuff? Quote Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Meh, doesn't look much different to me. I just searched for Ambrosia images, and I know that I have pictures with my name, but after 30 pages of that I gave up. I've never seen myself in google. Quote Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 If you think Google is scary, try www.zabasearch.com : Even after entering my first and last name, birthdate, town and state, it couldn't find me. I don't exsist. Quote Link to comment
+Arrow One Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I just searched my geo-name and the only thing that did come up was a cache that I had adopted. The rest was other stuff. I guess I'm not a high profile person. Quote Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 And after I say all that, I googled "Ambrosia geocache" and there I was. Quote Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Hmmm...I'm finding out some interesting things. Quote Link to comment
+DiS02 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I've used DiS02 since I first joined AoL back in 95 or so.. a google search showed some interesting things but not much personal... [PS] Microsoft PowerPoint - dis02 [PDF] DIS02 - Health hazards from dusty cargoes during the loading and ... I'll admit on the first page it showed 2 personal items, neither from GC.com but from a webhost I use/used & a Hawaii board I had posted too. I learned long ago that prospective bosses will search online for your name so its always a good idea to clean up what tracks you can (such as getting your info out of the white page listings online) and not use your email name if you are going to post 'childish' stuff to places like yourface & myspace, not unless its stuff you want them to see & that you arent ashamed of or would affect a job prospect. The net is a funny beast, it can bring so much good to someone (like geocaching) & yet still cause you harm. Quote Link to comment
+WildGooseChase Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Lesson I learned as a kid: One day Chicken Little was walking in the woods when -- KERPLUNK -- an acorn fell on her head "Oh my goodness!" said Chicken Little. "The sky is falling! I must go and tell the king." It's a shame that something you posted on a public website anybody can look at, is now available on another public website anybody can look at. Besides the only way for them to google you is to come here first to find your nickname, so they have already seen everything. Quote Link to comment
+wimseyguy Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 7500 hits and everyone of them about me and geocaching. What did you think google did? It searches websites for references; why wouldn't it capture info from this one? Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 (edited) Googling my geocaching name did bring up three geocaching ralated sources on the first page, and none in the next 20 pages. Lots of references to Harry Connick Jr singing On Green Dolphin Street! And Harry Potter doing something to a dolphin. And even a scientist named Harry attaching a prosthetic flipper to a dolphin. I guess that's the advantage to having a simple construct name like mine! Adding geocaching.com to the search brought up a few more sites, but not many. My real name is even more common! One reference in twenty pages to me. Oddly enough, that is on a related website. Well, semi-related to geocaching. I checked switchboard.com once, and found 8 of them with listed phone numbers, in New Jersey. Of course, none of those were me! On the other hand, when Princess Diana died, the networks left me a lot of messages. It seems that someone with a similar name (and who lives in New jersey) had something to do with Princess Diana at an early age. So, they called everyone in the phone book. And, of course, debt collectors love to call me, even though they have the wrong name. Oh, well. Guess I should try that other site listed, and see what they think of me. Okay. I stand corrected. There are 20 of me in New Jersey! Edited October 20, 2006 by Harry Dolphin Quote Link to comment
+skisidedown Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I never tried that before... All the hits on the first page were me... The part that really scares me is not a stalker looking for me, but I have posted pictures that have my KIDS in them! I knew that everyone on the site could see them - that in my opinion was an acceptable risk - but I didn't realize I was dumping them out on the net, available to be Googled! I guess its time to change several user names. Is there a topic on that anywhere - changing your user name I mean? Do I keep my stats or do I just go and enter them again? SSD Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 When I entered just my user name I got seventy some-odd pages of hits, and not one had to do with me! Every one of over 600 hits has something to do with me, except one. Someone using my username made a post on Urban Dictionary. A pretty nasty one at that. Quote Link to comment
+Cornerstone4 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 If you are that concerned about it you can always change your user name to something that is so common that it would take work to find it. My user name is also the name of a couple of different companies, bio tech companies, biological/environmental tour companies, biographical search engines, etc. It takes going through 10 pages of google results to find anything that has to do with me. And then Waymarking shows up... Groundspeak/Geocaching changed the website in May so that you can't change your username any longer. I don't want to start up a new profile and lose all of my finds. If you are really worried about it, start a new profile, and go back and re-log your finds with your new name. (And add an explanation for the random log in your post.) As someone else pointed out, before anyone googled your nick, they would have had to have seen you on this site anyway. And I would be more careful about that. We've got a local cacher here, and she used to have her picture prominently displayed on her profile. Her handle was obviously female as well. We talked about it, and she has since removed the picture. The reason it made me uncomfortable, and we talked about it, is she was a real FTF hound, and would go out at all hours of the night to grab new listings. A few of us were talking at an event, and someone brought up the fact that if she ever got a stalker, they could easily pick up her caching patterns and be ready for her. She freaked out, and that wasn't the intent, but she doesn't go out at night anymore. Paranoia isn't necessary, but a little caution doesn't hurt... Quote Link to comment
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