Safety Shmafety

A year or 2 ago I received a very stern lecture from my husband on internet safety. He took the modest data I had in my Twitter profile, and from his phone, showed me a Google map of our house. In about 2 minutes. HELLO! I really should have known this was possible.

I thought I knew all about internet safety:
Never give addresses, passwords, phone numbers. No pictures of schools, local organizations or the workplace. Don't click on suspicious links. Only look at porn on someone else's computer. Use a secure browser. Prince Tayebaba of Botswana does not really need my help to release his inheritance from an evil bank and there are not really "hot singles" in my area waiting to meet me (though I secretly think there are)....All the obvious stuff.

I thought I was pretty savvy. Guess Not.

I removed my real name from everything. Went back through my blogs and removed any identifying info. Tightened all my social network settings and breathed a sigh of relief at the sweet safety of anonymity.

Then one day I Googled my name. Holy lack of privacy Batman! My name was spread around like a 5 dollar whore! It seems I have nothing better to do than sign up for crap and comment on Fan pages. (all public record you know)

So I changed all my public account names to an alias and deleted my naughtier comments on those Fan pages to protect my good name. I then educated myself. Knowledge is power. Right? I still make mistakes and I do not claim to know everything. But, I am a fairly good snoop and inside 5 minutes I can know where your house is. It's creepy. It's also a good thing I am not a bad man.

So the other day, I gave out personal information to someone I did not know in order to help them. I researched what the data could be used for. Decided it was safe and returned to rolling around in my mental field of daisies. Then my husband put on his stern face again and made me doubt my safety. Seriously. He can send a chill down my spine.
I have been known to attract intense people. Not stalkers. Just intensity. I do like me some communication and I am not stingy with mine. I'll talk to anyone.

It took me about an hour to come back to my sense of inner peacefulness. I merely recalled something my dad told me when I asked him to put more secure window locks on my house windows.
He said, "Ehhhhh. If someone wants to get in, they will get in."

Epiphany!!! (heavenly light shines down)

I will continue as I always have. I will take proper precautions. I will trust in the goodness of others. There is no other way for me. Without communication there is no happiness. If you creep me out I will block your ass.