Personal Information on your Web Site

Philip Greenspun's Homepage : Philip Greenspun's Homepage Discussion Forums : Ask Philip : One Thread
Notify me of new responses
With so much personal information on your website about yourself
(resume, address, home and cell phone numbers, directions to your
house, photographs of your possessions, etc), have you be harassed,
threatened, or have had other strange occurrences from people
identifying you? If you have any humorous stories, I�d like to hear
them. In addition, aren�t you afraid of being a victim of identity
theft or someone stealing your personal property?

-- Dennis B, November 8, 2005

Answers

The home address and phone number on my Web site haven't led to anything more annoying than people calling my cell phone to ask what kind of camera to buy (of course, invariably these calls come through when I'm out of the country and subject to shocking roaming charges).

Victim of identity theft? I wish someone would take my identity; I would like to have a new one that does not include a history of computer programming. Stealing my personal property? When you live in a small apartment like mine, any reduction in clutter is generally welcome. The only thing of any real value that I own is an airplane and it is inside a hangar that is itself inside an airport used by the U.S. military. Only a handful of airplanes are stolen every year in the U.S. and mostly these thefts happen close to the Mexican border.

-- Philip Greenspun, November 26, 2005