Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists?

• 04-29-2008 4:32 PM

  In reply to erica1989

  Chuffy Joined on 12-17-2006 UK Posts 4,736 Points 10

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact OK, I have just done this too and I gotta add my voice to those who are not comfortable about it.  That's the point of screen names right?  So you can retain SOME privacy? As an aside, I discovered completelyby accident that I share my name (screen name) with a white Bengal Tigress!  Gosh! http://www.kirshner.org/animals/chuffy.php  "Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." (Pratchett, Jingo) "I used to look at [my dog] Smokey and think, 'If you were a little smarter you could tell me what you were thinking,' and he'd look at me like he was saying, 'If you were a little smarter, I wouldn't have to.'" - Fred Jungclaus

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• 04-29-2008 8:42 PM

  In reply to Chuffy

  Liesje Joined on 03-02-2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan Posts 6,430 Points 750

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact I am bothered by it as well and asked Kate about it privately before. However, in iDog's defense, Google caches the entire freaking Internet! Now, you can get them to update this, but everything must be submitted and I believe the pages HAVE to return a 404 Not Found error for them to update it.  Obviously, this site and our profiles are not going to to do that because they DO exist, it's just that the format of the site has changed.  Maybe there is another way to do it, I'm not sure.  I'm just a lowly webmaster of a few personal domains and I've done it a few times with 404 errors. I guess the question is whether or not there is an obligation to do anything further.  On one hand, apparently we did enter our full names at some point, but on the other, we did so thinking that information could be kept private, which it was until the site was changed and somehow that setting was toggled off.  My Blog - http://24ft.dutchbingo.net My Site - http://liesrosema.com

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• 04-30-2008 8:48 AM

  In reply to Liesje

  Benedict Joined on 05-30-2006 England Posts 4,815 Points 770

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact Liesje: I guess the question is whether or not there is an obligation to do anything further.  On one hand, apparently we did enter our full names at some point, but on the other, we did so thinking that information could be kept private, which it was until the site was changed and somehow that setting was toggled off.    Yes, that is the issue.  As I've said, I don't like this either, I am most certainly on the side of everyone uncomfortable with this.....but, anyone who's surname, birthday, location etc is now on Google put that information in their profile themselves.  Yes, it was technically private, but only in the sense that someone had to register to look at it and Google couldn't cache it.  That information WAS still available for anyone who really wanted to see it.   I realise it's different now, even if one individual wanted to see someone's profile, it is a BIG leap from there to having it searchable on Google.  Unfortunately though, there isn't anything that can be done now.  The tech people have to an extent shut the barn door, but the horses have bolted.  Anyone creating an account *now* doesn't have this issue, but any account created before the profiles were made more private does.  Even if we could convince Google to remove the links without the 404 error being the problem, I'd have 35000 member profiles to submit to them.  That's not feasible for anyone involved.   I'm sorry. Kate - Dog.community Administrator Jokers to the right.

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• 04-30-2008 11:39 AM

  In reply to Benedict

  Liesje Joined on 03-02-2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan Posts 6,430 Points 750

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact I guess the thing that makes me most uncomfortable is that I would not have given out my information in the first place had I known that at one point, it would suddenly be made public without my consent.  It's not a big enough deal for me to really care about....but it's a big enough deal to make me concerned as far as liabilities and legal obligations.  A similar thing happened in October where I work and overnight we had to cancel and reset thousands of user accounts, just as a precaution.  It was a mess, but it was our obligation to keep certain information private and secure so we had to spend about three weeks dealing with the repercussions and getting everything back on track.  Someone really could make a big stink about this type of thing if they wanted to.  I personally do not (heck, I've given my name and birth date in my posts), but the door is wide open and it concerns me that it's been shrugged off by the tech people... Google has been caching for a long time, so while they are responsible for holding the information now, they aren't responsible for it being "leaked" and cached.  I know it bothers you Kate as well, but I wonder why the tech people did not and have not done anything about it....I dunno, it makes me nervous, not for myself and my privacy, but for iDog and the liability... My Blog - http://24ft.dutchbingo.net My Site - http://liesrosema.com

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• 04-30-2008 12:36 PM

  In reply to Liesje

  denise m Joined on 12-06-2006 Toronto Canada Posts 1,087 Points 70	Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact  Just out of curiosity I googled and idog forum did not come up, however a post I made over a year ago on Doggiebag was #1 on the list. Although I understand the privacy concern I personally assume anything and everything I do on the  internet is public.
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• 05-02-2008 2:20 PM

  In reply to denise m

  mball Joined on 09-11-2007 Posts 32 Points 135

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact   Hello Everyone,   I want to first thank you all for expressing your concerns and raising questions whenever you have them.  We value the open communication that this forum provides and welcome your active participation.   When the issue of members’ names appearing in Google search results was raised, we immediately began to look into how this was occurring, and as Kate has correctly stated, we modified the forum software to prevent personal information from being searchable by Google.  Unfortunately, for those pages indexed by Google prior to the code change, some personal names do still appear in search results.  For those members impacted, please accept our apologies and know that going forward we continue to look for ways to increase your privacy and ensure your security.  We love to have all here discussing what we love most – dogs, and we would never knowingly put you in a situation that would cause you to enjoy this forum any less.    Thank you for your participation and support, Meghan Dog.Community Administrator

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• 05-02-2008 10:09 PM

  In reply to mball

  glenmar Joined on 09-10-2007 Northwestern Michigan Posts 11,325 Points 405

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact Hello, Meghan, and welcome.  Can you tell me how to CHANGE my info so that my last name is not given?  I looked in the edit profile, etc, and couldn't find a place to take the last name out.  Of course, if you'd like to do it for me, that'd be ok too.  Not terribly computer literate........ A house without fur is not a home. Glenda

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• 05-02-2008 10:52 PM

  In reply to glenmar

  mball Joined on 09-11-2007 Posts 32 Points 135

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact Thank you for the welcome Glenmar.  As you requested, I have removed your last name from your profile. Anyone else who would like to remove their last name can do so by going to Edit Profile, then Profile Settings, then About.  In the About section there is a feild for your name which can be modifed to include just your first name or no name at all. I must stress though, anyone whose profile page has already beened indexed by google in the past will still appear in a google search.  Thanks, Meghan Dog.Community Administrator

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• 05-03-2008 6:28 AM

  In reply to mball

  glenmar Joined on 09-10-2007 Northwestern Michigan Posts 11,325 Points 405

  Re: Why is my *full name* and not my user name showing up in friend lists? Reply Contact Thanks.  I appreciate that.  I honestly DID look.  Drat. You know, I'd seen this thread and hadn't given it much thought, but I had a firends request and looked to see how long it would take for me to show up as a friend...and lo and behold, there was my full name instead of the user name that I don't think I actually picked.  I think that happened with the very first forum change......I suddenly became glenmar instead of Glenda......no biggie.  Just a surprise.  I figure folks can and wil find me no matter what rock I try to hide under......... A house without fur is not a home. Glenda

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