Posted by Adam on May 31, 2000, at 16:24:12
In reply to Re: boBB-type issues and registration, posted by Noa on May 31, 2000, at 15:01:29
Of course people want to protect their identities, and registration that requires some personal information be divulged would compromise that to some extent.But let's not be naive about the level of anonymity we think we enjoy. Do none of us post from work? Do we all use encryption and web-proxies to cover our tracks?
I am guessing that the mere posting of information to an unsecure board such as this using our personal internet accounts from our own PCs leaves enough of a trail of information to allow anyone savvy and interested enough to learn much about us that we do not wish them to know. There is, as far as I know, no solution yet for this problem WITHOUT a registration system and possible future security enhancements added to the site.
An encryption-enabled registration form, as well as similar secure transfer of username and password information when logging on is many times more safe than the system we already use. The only problem we cannot help is what Dr. Bob or someone in his organization connected to 'Babble might do with what personal information we would have to divulge for user privileges. Quite frankly, this doesn't concern me that much. I'm sure Dr. Bob would apply the same professional discression to this information he applies to his clinical work. So I would be as safe here as anywhere. The other reason it doesn't concern me is that, as I have gotten educated, I realise that normal use of the internet is so unsecure, and the contents of our browser's caches and "cookie sheets" so easily accessed, if there is damage to be done, it has already been done. If anybody cares that much about my use of 'Babble to really dig for it, then everything they need is already out there. This is totally ignoring all my health and insurance records, precriptions, employer records about extended leave, book and med. purchases made with credit cards, literature requests, personal letters I no longer have control over, and on and on.
I choose not to worry about this, because it's water under the bridge at this point, and because I assume I have no real privacy anyway, in this info-hungry world. What I hope is that I am simply not interesting enough for anyone to go through the trouble to dig dirt up on me.
This doesn't mean I wouldn't like to take precautions in the future, so as not to compound the damage. I think we shouldn't ignore the possibilites for security that a robust registration system might provide.
poster:Adam
thread:34648
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000526/msgs/35411.html