RCinNC
Well-Known Member
You don't need crazy expensive software technology to hide your IP address. I'm using a VPN right now that says I'm in Las Vegas, and that service costs me about $5.00 a month. With a mouse click, I can be in Budapest. Yes, I'm sure the NSA could find out where I'm actually at by my IP address, but Joe Average citizen can't.
This isn't about hiding from the Big Bad Government, and it has nothing to do with your ability to be tracked on your phone, and it has nothing to do with paranoia. Look at it this way: I don't see anyone on this forum that uses their real name. Obviously my name isn't RCinNC, and I don't see any other members here who go by Ted Williamson rather than "SuperTenTed". I also don't see anyone who prominently displays their home address and phone number in their signature lines. Why is that? I don't know your reasons, but for me, it's because I don't want random internet strangers who I don't know to know who I am and where I live. If you're going to post photos of your bike or car on line with your registration plate prominently displayed, that's what you're doing. It's only one step removed from telling a bunch of people who you really don't know and yet you interact with on a regular basis what your real name and address is. Not only that, that bit of info can also be used by that random stranger to find out who your wife and family members are. And they don't need crazy expensive technology to find out that info from your plate; they just need a credit card to pay one of the online data collection agencies, or in some states they just need to fill out a form at the DMV, or they need a friend who works in a legal office or an insurance office. Or they could pay any one of the numerous shady PI services to do the legwork for them.
As I said earlier, the fact that someone would use that info against you isn't likely, but it also isn't a non-zero chance. I'm not personally comfortable projecting my personal information on line so that thousands of random strangers could have access to it if they desired. I wouldn't do it any more than I'd drive down the street with my name, address and DOB painted on the side of my car. It requires almost no effort to protect myself from this non-zero chance, so that's what I do.
This isn't about hiding from the Big Bad Government, and it has nothing to do with your ability to be tracked on your phone, and it has nothing to do with paranoia. Look at it this way: I don't see anyone on this forum that uses their real name. Obviously my name isn't RCinNC, and I don't see any other members here who go by Ted Williamson rather than "SuperTenTed". I also don't see anyone who prominently displays their home address and phone number in their signature lines. Why is that? I don't know your reasons, but for me, it's because I don't want random internet strangers who I don't know to know who I am and where I live. If you're going to post photos of your bike or car on line with your registration plate prominently displayed, that's what you're doing. It's only one step removed from telling a bunch of people who you really don't know and yet you interact with on a regular basis what your real name and address is. Not only that, that bit of info can also be used by that random stranger to find out who your wife and family members are. And they don't need crazy expensive technology to find out that info from your plate; they just need a credit card to pay one of the online data collection agencies, or in some states they just need to fill out a form at the DMV, or they need a friend who works in a legal office or an insurance office. Or they could pay any one of the numerous shady PI services to do the legwork for them.
As I said earlier, the fact that someone would use that info against you isn't likely, but it also isn't a non-zero chance. I'm not personally comfortable projecting my personal information on line so that thousands of random strangers could have access to it if they desired. I wouldn't do it any more than I'd drive down the street with my name, address and DOB painted on the side of my car. It requires almost no effort to protect myself from this non-zero chance, so that's what I do.