The difference the way that I see it is that if a person chooses to post his name, or for that matter, any other information about themselves, that is fine. It is when another person makes the information available without the person who's information it is, and they don't have the ability to censor or remove it where the problem lies. It would be like me posting someone else's home telephone number. Since I am the one that had his information posted that is referred to in this original thread posting, I will say that I am not angry at the person that did it, because they immediately removed it when requested. The last time that this happened to me on this site, was last year. In that post, the fellow TBN member did a lot of research and posted my name, address, and date and location of birth, and even my telephone number if I remember correctly. In that instance, a PM to a moderator was all that it took to have it removed. In this last instance the moderator that I sent the PM to declined to edit the post stating that </font><font color="blue" class="small">( "you know how it infuriates you (and others sometimes) if a moderator edits any of your posts, and now you're asking me to edit someone else's post that violates no forum rules that I'm aware of."*)</font>. I can clearly understand this moderators thinking, however, I believe that this is one time that the rules need to be modified. The moderator that I PM'd, also said that there was no way to know if </font><font color="blue" class="small">( "He simply asked if that was your name, and since I don't know whether it is or not, that means I don't know whether this is a joke you want to play on him, or whether it's a serious request."*)</font>. I can also see this side of the moderators dilemma, and I believe that there should be some way that a moderator has to verify who we actually are without that information being available to the general membership. Just like the site has our personal e mail address, but it is no longer available to others, so should our real names be available, and any other information that he management would need to administer the site. I fully understand the dilemma that my request put the moderator in and his reasoning behind his reply. While personal information is available to some that know how to ferret it out on the internet, most people don't, and I for one, prefer that my personal information not be publicly published without my consent or my doing so on my own. If you click on the profiles of the active members here, it is about evenly split between people that have only listed their first name or no name and people that have posted their full name. Identity theft by a professional thief is difficult to resolve, but making it easy for the person that doesn't know how to do it isn't to my liking. The time that it takes to fix your credit is quite extensive and difficult and I am certain that none of us want to experience it. I have never hidden from any one at TBN and have freely given them my name, address, phone number, e mail address, etc. when there is a reason to do so. I just don't see any reason to put it out to the world. The next time that you have some spare time, do a Google search on your home or business telephone number, your address, or your user name on this and other sites. You will be amazed at what information is already out there about you. There are a lot of lunatics out there that can do some serious damage to your lifestyle without trying if they get even the smallest amount of personal information. An example would be calling your home in the middle of the night and hanging up when you answer. Have that happen a few times and you will want to resolve it quickly, but can't since some calls cannot be traced with caller ID. This is just one example, and I won't go into others so as to help the internet trolls with how to be more obnoxious.. With 16,870 members presently registered on the site, it is hard to know the moral character of all of them. If you want to post your personal information, that is fine, however, others shouldn't be posting your personal information without your concent. Thanks....... Junk...
* Quotes posted with Moderators Permission.
