Call signs made public

Started by mdmc, September 24, 2013, 10:54:29 PM

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mdmc

After searching and not finding any posts about this  I wanted to know if this has  been discussed.  I have noticed that only a few here publish their call signs.  I have sent mine to Gil in a private message because I wanted him to know who I was for a particular reason.

My concerns are mainly about  id theft.

What is the general feeling about making your call sign public?

gil

My opinion is that my call sign is for radio use, not the Internet. Anyone can find it with a few Google searches, but I don't need to make it easy. I suspect that some of the publicly posted call signs here are attached to a different address than where their owners live. I am not so much worried about identity theft, but burglary.

Gil.

Quietguy

I don't list mine just because I am cutting back on how much information I post on the Internet.  I used to sign up for forums using my real name and I used to put a valid email address in forum signatures.  I don't do that any more because times have changed and this isn't the same Internet it was 10 or 15 years ago.  My call sign points to a post office box, but I still only give it out when I need to.  I'm sure people can find my information if they want to but that doesn't mean I need to make it easier.

Wally

KK0G

One of my hobbies is seeing how many government watch lists I can get placed on by publicly pissing off liberals, can't do that by hiding behind an anonymous screen name 8) .
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

KK0G

RichardSinFWTX

I've found that throwing out the occasional "F*** DIRNSA" in your cellphone and landline conversations works well too!!

Also change the name of your wireless network at home to "FBI Surveillance Van" is fun too!   ::)

Geek

We get newbies who are not yet licensed.  I was in that category when I joined or I might have used the call sign for a screen name.

KC3AOL

Eh, I don't see how my call sign is giving anyone any more information than what is already out there.

IZ2UUF

I believe that the battle for privacy is lost before it began, so why bothering?
My name, address and callsign is public, available on QRZ.COM and I don't know how many other places.
I'm not going to waste energy trying to hide them.
However, so far, no problems with that.

Davide IZ2UUF

gil

QuoteEh, I don't see how my call sign is giving anyone any more information than what is already out there.

You do by associating your call sign to this site and whatever information you put in different threads.. Of course nobody is stupid enough here to write something like: "I store food and weapons in the shed behind my house." But you get the point..

QuoteI believe that the battle for privacy is lost before it began, so why bothering?

I understand that attitude, and it is mostly true. I am guilty of it sometimes. However, we are talking Big Brother in that case, and again, they have it all already. I want to somewhat reduce my exposure to other site visitors who may not be browsing to get information on Ham radio..

Not posting my call sign doesn't cost me anything in effort or time, so why not..

Gil.

IZ2UUF

Quote from: gil on September 25, 2013, 04:11:50 PM
I want to somewhat reduce my exposure to other site visitors who may not be browsing to get information on Ham radio..

You are absolutely right, but I count on overseas distance as a defence strategy! :-)

Davide

KC9TNH

Quote from: KF5RHI on September 25, 2013, 08:54:42 AM
I've found that throwing out the occasional "F*** DIRNSA" in your cellphone and landline conversations works well too!!
Actually I'd suggest Big Sis and her minions as an alternative alphabet agency. Policy makers mis-using a tool (like the military for example) is as old as government. I'd be willing to bet a bag of craisins that if someone came down right now and told Fort Meade & Co LLC to scale back what they were doing, they would be happily diverting their attention to other stuff on their to-do lists.  I blame the un-elected arbiters of such policies, and the elected critters who caved & confirmed them.

My call is my userID on this forum because of what this forum is and, if you want to call me, or know when you happen to hear me on the radidio, you might want to know that. Geoloc to  a PO Box? They can flash a badge & find out who has it & it won't be an NSA badge, it'll be DHS, ATF, FBI, EPA, ICE, IRS, hell maybe even TSA if this country doesn't wake up and smell the tipping point. My guv-issued call is way on the bottom of my list of concerns.
8)

p.s.  Davide, if you've exchanged an email with someone hear via a US-based internet service, you're toast anyway so relax & join the fun. "All your informaziones are belahng to us!"  Mwahahahahaha

WA4STO

Quote from: KF5RHI on September 25, 2013, 08:54:42 AM

Also change the name of your wireless network at home to "FBI Surveillance Van" is fun too!   ::)

Now, that's a hoot!  I'd counter with:

NSAlivesHERE  for mine

but yours is far better.



Gawd, that patch was on my 'colleagues', back in the SIXTIES.  According to the front page of the past few months' newspapers, it's
still their motto. 

Notice the crossed feather and pen.  I'm guessing that several of you know what comical name THAT got us, from among all other Navy ratings.

KC9TNH

Quote from: WA4STO on September 25, 2013, 06:26:25 PM
Now, that's a hoot!  I'd counter with:

NSAlivesHERE  for mine

but yours is far better.



Gawd, that patch was on my 'colleagues', back in the SIXTIES.  According to the front page of the past few months' newspapers, it's
still their motto. 

Notice the crossed feather and pen.  I'm guessing that several of you know what comical name THAT got us, from among all other Navy ratings.
Thanks for the fodder; I get to send that to an old AF instructor I had at Lackland who thought that was HIS motto. LMAO.

Nice restraint on the quill, etc. This is a family forum, right...?
;D

Quietguy

Quote from: KC9TNH on September 25, 2013, 04:54:27 PMGeoloc to  a PO Box? They can flash a badge & find out who has it & it won't be an NSA badge, it'll be DHS, ATF, FBI, EPA, ICE, IRS, hell maybe even TSA
Once again, that isn't the point - like Gil said, the government already has everything, and they can easily get anything they may have missed.  All of our mail goes to a PO box; our roadside mailbox is 500 feet away and is not visible from the house.  Mail theft is a common problem in our area and using the PO box avoids the issue.

I decided to scale back what I make public because of incessant private sector profiling facilitated by Google and everybody else with access to data.  Over the years I have been active in various forums and venues using my real name and recently I decided to make it a little more difficult to link my various accounts together in a profile.  I'm not hiding my call sign, I'm just reserving it for its intended purpose - identification in over the air contacts.

Wally

RadioRay

#14
The PO box is a very good idea.  I've used it in the past and live aboard a sailboat with no know address. However,  if I am -for some silly reason- being specifically hunted by a three letter agency other than the DMV, I am SOL.  I really is that simple.  NSA does not need the database at QRZ.com.

Flashing a badge at me might not garner a lot of willing cooperation. 
However, if the right sort of person were to flash me, I'd talk!

... badge or not    ;D



de RadioRay ..._ ._
"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry