Is it safe to use a real picture for your avatar / profile pic??

[Iloveyou]

Some helpful information regarding security thank you all. I agree that one can't stay anonymous at all once one uses electronic devices.

The reason I removed my picture which I had used for some months was, that I got tired of looking in the mirror every time I logged in. Though I very much appreciate and like the avatars with real pictures and your previous one was way, way better, Spellbound

[Ewan]

Posted by Nick Matkin (here)
Something no one here has yet mentioned.

If you use a picture that you have taken yourself and use as an avatar or in a post, no matter what it is, and posted it on any other website at all a simple reverse image search will show other websites where is occurs. This can be an easy way to find out who you are, where you live and no doubt other details.

Google has a reverse image search anyone can use (it's not a secret) and tineye.com does the same thing. There are no doubt others.

These reverse image searches are extremely useful in exposing some group or individual claiming a photo is of one thing, when a search shows it was something else, first published some years before of another incident in a different place! (You have been warned. Don't do it.)

There are some incredibly nasty individuals out there, dangerous crazies. One or two may lurk of here for all I know and I'm sure Bill and the mods know all about them. If you piss them off, they may go to incredible lengths to gain revenge. Having an avatar that you've used on facebook or twitter is just making it easy for them.

If you do it to my avatar, you can see what it is and where it came from - and whether it's copyrighted or not!

Keep safe folks...

Nick

I just 'tin-eyed' my avatar. Apparently I don't exist so I'm completely safe.

Go for it Spellbound, be yourself.

[korgh]

Posted by Ewan (here)

Posted by Nick Matkin (here)
Something no one here has yet mentioned.

If you use a picture that you have taken yourself and use as an avatar or in a post, no matter what it is, and posted it on any other website at all a simple reverse image search will show other websites where is occurs. This can be an easy way to find out who you are, where you live and no doubt other details.

Google has a reverse image search anyone can use (it's not a secret) and tineye.com does the same thing. There are no doubt others.

These reverse image searches are extremely useful in exposing some group or individual claiming a photo is of one thing, when a search shows it was something else, first published some years before of another incident in a different place! (You have been warned. Don't do it.)

There are some incredibly nasty individuals out there, dangerous crazies. One or two may lurk of here for all I know and I'm sure Bill and the mods know all about them. If you piss them off, they may go to incredible lengths to gain revenge. Having an avatar that you've used on facebook or twitter is just making it easy for them.

If you do it to my avatar, you can see what it is and where it came from - and whether it's copyrighted or not!

Keep safe folks...

Nick

I just 'tin-eyed' my avatar. Apparently I don't exist so I'm completely safe.

Go for it Spellbound, be yourself.

No matter what you do 'cause Google really loves to collect data...

What about The GDELT Project ?

"A Global Database of Society:
Supported by Google Jigsaw, the GDELT Project monitors the world's broadcast, print, and web news from nearly every corner of every country in over 100 languages and identifies the people, locations, organizations, counts, themes, sources, emotions, counts, quotes, images and events driving our global society every second of every day, creating a free open platform for computing on the entire world."

" The GDELT Project is an initiative to construct a catalog of human societal-scale behavior and beliefs across all countries of the world, connecting every person, organization, location, count, theme, news source, and event across the planet into a single massive network that captures what's happening around the world, what its context is and who's involved, and how the world is feeling about it, every single day."

http://www.gdeltproject.org/

[gord]

I might change my avatar to a pic of Emmanuel Goldstein, and change my name to Mac Address.

[korgh]

Posted by gord (here)
I might change my avatar to a pic of Emmanuel Goldstein, and change my name to Mac Address.

Don't forget to use a spoofed Mac

[Satori]

I don't think it matters. There are probably only a few people who are members of this forum who the powers-that-be have any interest in. The PTB know what those few look like, have identified them and already know what they need to know about such people. To the PTB the rest of us are rowing with one paddle, while chasing our tails and spitting into the wind. At present, we are no threat to them and they don't care if you put your photo up or not.

[TargeT]

Posted by Satori (here)
I don't think it matters. There are probably only a few people who are members of this forum who the powers-that-be have any interest in.

I doubt there are any...


Before I EVEN WORRIED about a smallish internet forum having my picture I'd ask you this:

Do you carry a cellphone?

Is it a burner paid in cash, or a smartphone that you have a contract on (because who has 1000$ laying around to drop on a phone?). If it's the latter then you are carrying a surveillance package around with you everywhere you go & I'll bet your never far from it & certainly don't take the battery out when you aren't actively using it.

between the two the threat factor of a cellphone is far higher... It can not only tell me where you live, but where you go, who you're in contact with & with a bit of malware, probably your bank account & all sorts of other fun pieces of info.. but mostly what your patterns are & pattern analysis is why the government is mostly just concerned with "meta" data. It's amazing what you can do with pattern analysis.

Posted by DeDukshyn (here)
Here's my rules:
#1 "Don't give a **** about anything"
#2 "Don't make stupid decisions"

We live with finite resources... worrying about a picture on line is about the LAST place you need to spend your resources.

there are around 4 billion people "on line"... needle in a haystack!


Plus, let's be no-****-honest with ourselves here... are any of us really that interesting to a "PTB" type of group?

[Dianamar]

I went to a seminar where several people spoke about on line security and one guy in particular said he was " sought " by agencies for saying particular things on a web site much like this one. It was an interesting story and his main advice was you can say whatever you want so long as it's not about thwarting or creating technology...

ie. don't tell them you created a new motor that runs on static electricity or reverse engineered the gov facial recognition systems etc.

That's what got their attention. Speaking your mind i don't think at this level really matters to them unless you become " Someone " that has say a following.
They are fundamentally afraid of people creating communities or think tanks with a means of introducing new ways of advancing themselves.

Im happy with my avatar she has the figure and legs i wan't lol

[Sueanne47]

Also, semetism/anti-semetism is a no-go, very dangerous subject..

[wnlight]

I do not concern myself with letting my image float around the Internet. What - Me Worry? I long ago gave up trying to protect my privacy. They already know me by both my names, fingerprints, retina, DNA, and many images. I have worked for the AEC, DOD, DOE, DOT and a few more agencies that I do not care to mention.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by wnlight (here)

What - Me Worry?

Made me laugh. (Hi Warren! Much appreciated. )

Yes, the agencies will (or can) know anything they want to about you. They have technology -- and very smart people to work it -- some of which may seem to more properly belong in Sci-Fi films.

It's more one's cynical neighbors (or employers, or in some cases even one's own family) that might be the bigger problem to consider.

[DarMar]

your post made me to change smoking lizard into my pic
what is safe these days tho?

my guess would be use whatever you want, it is our dream anyways

[Spellbound]

Posted by Iloveyou (here)
Some helpful information regarding security thank you all. I agree that one can't stay anonymous at all once one uses electronic devices.

The reason I removed my picture which I had used for some months was, that I got tired of looking in the mirror every time I logged in. Though I very much appreciate and like the avatars with real pictures and your previous one was way, way better, Spellbound

Awwwwe shucks....

Dave - Toronto

[RunningDeer]

Posted by wnlight (here)
I do not concern myself with letting my image float around the Internet. What - Me Worry? I long ago gave up trying to protect my privacy. They already know me by both my names, fingerprints, retina, DNA, and many images. I have worked for the AEC, DOD, DOE, DOT and a few more agencies that I do not care to mention.

They must know it's your birthday today, W.L.

One more set of letters for today. HBWL

♡

PS I have masking tape over my computer camera.

[enigma3]

I use Ghostery to slow them down. Very nice tool. It shows you how many sites want to data mine you. Project Avalon draws out only 2 companies who want your info. Zero Hedge shows over 70 spying companies! My oh my.
I also use Duck Duck Go to search. They do not keep any history on any search.
I will soon migrate to Unix Mint for an operating system and Thunderbird from Firefox for email.
Just trying to minimize my footprint.

[norman]

Here's my bottom line on this kind of issue.

The really high ups can NOT be stopped from knowing whatever they want to know about you. That's 'gold rule' Z.

What has to be grasped here is subtle but vital.

The methods those high-up actually use to manipulate and control, is less like a direct magic of raw power in your face, as in "I know everything about you so I can do whatever I want with you", and more like " I control the entire psychological ecosystem and I can manipulate others much lower down than me to make you do what I want you to do. I don't even care who you are, I just care about my control over all of you".

In that regard there are reasons to be very careful about how much info about yourself you make cyber public.

err... with that said, as best as I can, right now, I'm far more worried about what stupid system operatives can know about me than I am worried about what the highest crooks on the planet can know about me.

I'm not sure that really made my point clear, but hope so.

[Carmody]

The reason I use no name, no data, no location, no hints, not one single locational cue of any kind, no personal cues...etc..is that I'm capable of finding a person with one single photo. (this is not unique, no, not at all)

In your dreams, in your mind, in your world.

These means are not immediately available to anyone or everyone, but they are available.

One has to remember, for all our falling into, our propensity for 'normalcy', our falling to our expectations and channels of reality in our day to day living moments...that...this common reality is not even close to being what we think it is.

That this reality..is a group dream meme, a consensus center/centric bubble, if you will...with many side scenarios and connections, systems, dimensions and methods of working with some or all of them.

Someone who is really good, only needs my writing and that resonance I import into it, but a photo - is another thing altogether.

[Verdilac]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Wind (here)

It doesn't really matter, it's a personal choice. If they want to find out who you are, they will. Not much you can do about it.

Exactly. If you use a computer with a built-in camera, for instance, they'd have your picture long ago -- if they actually wanted it.

They can also (if they want to) record your voice, your movements, your financial transactions, and ALL your communications, including all e-mails, Facebook posts, Skype and SMS texts, and anything you write here. And map your network of friends (and different kinds of friends) pretty exactly.

This jogs my memory of an incident from my past. Quite a few years ago I stuck up a conversation with a very lovely young lady whilst being a member of an online dating website, time went by and we exchanged more and more messages and I can honestly say I very much enjoyed hearing from her as she was such a pleasure to chat too.

Anyway one evening we were live chatting through the website and I mentioned I had been offered a position at a local base in north Yorkshire, all very honest, a civi employment position I might add. Well you could have knocked me down with a feather when she said she worked at the other base, at which point I realised which base she could have been talking about when I recalled that she said she was going to Guam some time in the near future. At the 1st time of informing me I thought she was going there on holiday, silly me.

I should of been a little sharper when the conversation came round to vehicles & she guessed the make & model of my car almost instantly and from memory also the colour, but then a sentence later said she drove the same model of car. There is a little more to what I've said if you read between the lines but you can probably get the picture.

I now view it all as completely innocent in hindsight.

So picture or no picture ,it may not make a difference apart from local recognition purposes.

[Tangri]

Posted by Spellbound (here)

Posted by Iloveyou (here)
Some helpful information regarding security thank you all. I agree that one can't stay anonymous at all once one uses electronic devices.

The reason I removed my picture which I had used for some months was, that I got tired of looking in the mirror every time I logged in. Though I very much appreciate and like the avatars with real pictures and your previous one was way, way better, Spellbound

Awwwwe shucks....

Dave - Toronto

I saw you driving on DVP yesterday

[petra]

The worst consequence I see here is the crazy people stalking you thing

I kept my picture off because I'm not very nice looking. Hee hee