Reddit anonymity

I honestly thought staying anonymous on Reddit was a given.
Apparently, I was wrong.
Check out this message from a user over at CNN:

Even though I know where you live, I would never use that info to hurt you in any way.

Can some moderator please explain what's going on here?

Is it even possible that you ever mentioned where you live on this forum?
I actually know where a lot of people here live because they’ve openly said it themselves. 🍿

I haven't mentioned where I live to anyone.
But, I guess mods could probably track that down through reports or something.
Does it actually go that far, or is there some other way... It’s just not right, because a site like this really needs to guarantee anonymity.
Honestly, I think a ton of people would just stop posting if US data privacy laws weren't being respected here.

The mods don't have that info. Honestly, I doubt the admins do either, since Reddit doesn't even ask you to input any personal details during sign-up.
I'm telling you, most people just volunteer it themselves in a post or leave some kind of hint, and then stalkers use that to dig up everything they need.

Is it possible someone is intentionally trying to scare you just to mess with you?

Seriously, less than a month ago over on Reddit, we were all getting threatened with being 'exposed'☕

Most likely, they're just trying to intimidate you.

Jeremy Johnson18 said:The mods don't have that info. Honestly, I doubt the admins do either, since Reddit doesn't even ask you to input any personal details during sign-up.
I'm telling you, most people just volunteer it themselves in a post or leave some kind of hint, and then stalkers use that to dig up everything they need.

Yeah, total stalker move.👎

Nicholas Barnes74 said:I honestly thought staying anonymous on Reddit was a given.
Apparently, I was wrong.
Check out this message from a user over at CNN:

Even though I know where you live, I would never use that info to hurt you in any way.

Can some moderator please explain what's going on here?

And how exactly would anyone here guarantee YOUR anonymity?!

Nicholas Barnes74 said:They don't believe in God, the Church is an eyesore to them, and they're deeply concerned that women aren't priests 🤣 🤣 🤣 ...

CNN said:It would be quite something, imagine... Mrs. Nicholas Barnes74, a priestess in Savannah
She certainly wouldn't be any worse than the men... 👍

Nicholas Barnes74 said:The way you're attempting (poorly) to pinpoint my location, it's pathetic and beneath the standards of this forum. 👎 ...

So what now—did our colleague @CNN do a good job trying to find where you live, or did his attempt poorly 'succeed' (meaning you don't actually live there)?

Let's see:

CNN said:Don't get angry, I didn't mean anything by it.🙂
Correction: Serena Williams, the priestess in Savannah... that sounds better.

Even though I know exactly where you live, I would never use that information to hurt you in any way. 👍 ...

Nicholas Barnes74 said:...Just so you know where I live. It's time we have a word with the Reddit leadership.
Are you some kind of Reddit spy? 🤦

Nicholas Barnes74 said:... And of course, I’m going to respond. If any of you Redditors actually know where I live.This forum is getting dangerous. Which one should be chosen. Guaranteed anonymity. Yes. Where is the data?. ...

🤣

Keeping 99% of your data private or staying anonymous really comes down to "self-discipline," if that’s even a priority for you.

If you spend enough time posting online, you’ll eventually leave enough breadcrumbs that someone could connect the dots—either directly or indirectly—if they follow the same threads and have a decent memory. That’s assuming they’re actually stalking you, which I don't think is happening here.
People track each other privately too, so if one person figures something out, others usually will shortly after.

The forum itself offers very few tools that would allow someone to identify you electronically. Most leaks are just due to personal carelessness, like signing up with a work email that includes your full name and employer.
The moderators aren't hackers, private investigators, or the CIA; we don't exactly have deep-level surveillance software baked into our job description, let alone the average user.

The forum guarantees privacy only insofar as you can choose to be anonymous if you want to, and by preventing the public posting of your personal info if you didn't volunteer it yourself—even if someone manages to figure out who you are.
But we can't stop someone from deducing your identity, which happens more often than you'd think. Even if a fellow member actually finds out where you're from, they haven't technically broken any rules by knowing it, so there's nothing for us to sanction. We aren't authorized to perform lobotomies or decapitations just to wipe information from people's heads.

Generally speaking, you should approach the idea of internet anonymity with a heavy dose of skepticism. To get anywhere close to true privacy, you either need massive personal effort and high-level IT literacy, or you just stay off the web entirely. Since most of us aren't involved in international crime and we don't live in a dictatorship, maintaining a high level of anonymity isn't worth the hassle or the loss of convenience for most people.

In short—if you are extremely sensitive about privacy:
1) Minimize your internet usage and beef up your IT skills.
2) Turn off the internet, which means ditching smart devices, modern cars, and so on.

Otherwise, just assume that true privacy doesn't exist at practically any level of online activity—from your service provider and marketing firms to the people you're talking to who might unmask you through indirect means.
Browsing the open internet all day via a standard connection, using Windows and Google, on a branded laptop you bought legally with your own credit card while writing extensively about your ideas and life... it’s fundamentally incompatible with total anonymity. It’s not worth the mental energy.

The forum isn't responsible for this. Your level of online security—mine included—is probably low enough that it wouldn't take much effort to uncover anything. More often than not, things get exposed purely by accident without anyone even trying.

Nicholas Barnes74 said:I haven't mentioned where I live to anyone.
But, I guess mods could probably track that down through reports or something.
Does it actually go that far, or is there some other way... It’s just not right, because a site like this really needs to guarantee anonymity.
Honestly, I think a ton of people would just stop posting if US data privacy laws weren't being respected here.

Impossible.

Nicholas Barnes74 said:I haven't mentioned where I live to anyone.
But, I guess mods could probably track that down through reports or something.
Does it actually go that far, or is there some other way... It’s just not right, because a site like this really needs to guarantee anonymity.
Honestly, I think a ton of people would just stop posting if US data privacy laws weren't being respected here.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that in over 5,000 posts you haven't dropped a hint about what you do for a living somewhere, or maybe you shared that info in a private message and then someone just happened to mention it...

And regarding public figures, people generally know where they reside; if it’s a small town, it’s incredibly easy to track someone down, especially if they use their last name as their handle and happen to be a woman. 🙂

Plus, depending on the specific threads you hang out in, it might actually be pretty easy to guess your profession. 🙂

Charles Fox10 said:Impossible.

Your location? Au contraire, my friend! https://www.ip2location.com/

It doesn't give away everything, but sometimes it reveals quite a bit, though I suppose it's hard to say if anyone actually cares about that kind of nonsense.

Anyway, I think this serves as a perfect lesson for the first rule of sociology on Reddit for anyone with a public profile: never include any identifying personal details in your username unless you're looking to get found or exposed. 🙂

swiftowl7 said:Personally, I find it hard to believe that in over 5,000 posts you haven't dropped a hint about what you do for a living somewhere, or maybe you shared that info in a private message and then someone just happened to mention it...

And regarding public figures, people generally know where they reside; if it’s a small town, it’s incredibly easy to track someone down, especially if they use their last name as their handle and happen to be a woman. 🙂

Plus, depending on the specific threads you hang out in, it might actually be pretty easy to guess your profession. 🙂

Your location? Au contraire, my friend! https://www.ip2location.com/

It doesn't give away everything, but sometimes it reveals quite a bit, though I suppose it's hard to say if anyone actually cares about that kind of nonsense.

Anyway, I think this serves as a perfect lesson for the first rule of sociology on Reddit for anyone with a public profile: never include any identifying personal details in your username unless you're looking to get found or exposed. 🙂

🙂 It seems like a total waste of time to me, since the data is completely inaccurate. In my case, it missed me by 124 miles.

Just 58 miles airlines from Chicago.
Even my antivirus software sends more accurate spam than this; it never misses by more than fifty bucks. 🙂

😱 Oh, wait... I just leaked some major personal info. How the hell do I delete this?! 😱

🙂 What about me? I think my location is actually displayed right under my avatar here.

mistyotter35 said:🙂 What about me? I think my location is actually displayed right under my avatar here.

Whatever. A decent chunk of people on this forum—including some former and current moderators—know my name, my address, and plenty of other stuff about me.
Besides, the idea of internet anonymity is a total joke. Even someone like me, who’s basically tech-illiterate, can dig up some info if I actually put my mind to it. If I can do it, imagine what those kids today can do, considering they were practically coding before they could even walk. 🙂

I honestly don't get any of this. Like, I’m just completely lost—there’s nothing making sense here. Nicholas Barnes74 The local office out in Savannah... I guess you could call it a branch or whatever—it’s basically just that one little storefront downtown.🤔

But hey, at least he's got a nice straw hat. 🙂

swiftowl7 said:Personally, I find it hard to believe that in over 5,000 posts you haven't dropped a hint about what you do for a living somewhere, or maybe you shared that info in a private message and then someone just happened to mention it...

And regarding public figures, people generally know where they reside; if it’s a small town, it’s incredibly easy to track someone down, especially if they use their last name as their handle and happen to be a woman. 🙂

Plus, depending on the specific threads you hang out in, it might actually be pretty easy to guess your profession. 🙂

Your location? Au contraire, my friend! https://www.ip2location.com/

It doesn't give away everything, but sometimes it reveals quite a bit, though I suppose it's hard to say if anyone actually cares about that kind of nonsense.

Anyway, I think this serves as a perfect lesson for the first rule of sociology on Reddit for anyone with a public profile: never include any identifying personal details in your username unless you're looking to get found or exposed. 🙂

And what's yours? What "female user" are you talking about???
I honestly don't see the point in responding if you aren't even reading the post.
Nobody here knows what I do for work—even though it's relevant—and nobody knows where I live.
Not in my username, and not in my DMs either.

Grace Wood5 said:Whatever. A decent chunk of people on this forum—including some former and current moderators—know my name, my address, and plenty of other stuff about me.
Besides, the idea of internet anonymity is a total joke. Even someone like me, who’s basically tech-illiterate, can dig up some info if I actually put my mind to it. If I can do it, imagine what those kids today can do, considering they were practically coding before they could even walk. 🙂

But we're talking about someone stalking an older person here.

Unfortunately, the only feature that actually gave us any peace of mind has been completely screwed over (pardon my French). When you use the ignore function, you don't see their posts, but they can still see everything you write and harass you however they damn well please. So, the ignore option isn't protecting the average user anymore; it’s basically just handing a win to the very trolls the feature was originally designed to stop.