> . I don't create new accounts, I never cross-login with my email address

I honestly tend to think this is the only viable long term strategy.

Let's face it: In a truly global internet where every single forum or website is hosted in a different country with a different jurisdiction, hoping that every single actor will act responsibly is just delusional.

It is not what we see. It is not happening and it is not going to happen.

Individual need to have right to online privacy.

That's means the right to get proxy email address, proxy phone number, proxy physical address and even proxy identity (first name/family name).

The sooner the governments will accept that, the better.

If done right, it is not incompatible with a system where identities can be reconstructed by the authorities for legal actions.

If nothing is done, scams and blackmails will continue to spread like bushfire and proxies anonymity will happen anyway outside of any control.

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AnthonyMouse 16 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

> If done right, it is not incompatible with a system where identities can be reconstructed by the authorities for legal actions.

Doing it right is exactly the thing that makes this impossible. If instead you give everyone a unique barcode that every other pseudonym can be tied back to, do you really think that database will never be breached? It would become the prime target for all attackers in the world.

Meanwhile reconstructing "identities" is the least valuable thing to doing law enforcement well, because the first thing criminals will do is use someone else's identity, and then tying something to the wrong identity isn't just useless, it's actively counterproductive. The thing you need is not centralized identity but proper investigations that can tie some activity to the person pulling the strings regardless of whose name they're using.

The thing centralized identity does is precisely the opposite -- it leads you to person associated with a name, often the wrong person, the victim whose identity is being stolen, instead of the perpetrator. And that's not just bad for privacy, it's bad for innocent victims when the wrong person gets punished because the investigation was structured to try to indirectly tie activity to a person through a name when the goal should be to tie the malicious activity directly to the perpetrator.

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cortesoft 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Is the alternative just accepting that my data is out there? Even if I never used any online service, there are databases out there with my information anyway.

Just figure anything online that you aren't securing yourself is compromised. Minimize the effect that has on your life. Identify theft is annoying, but it rarely has severe effects.

You will have to go out of your way to be truly anonymous online, and it might be impossible if you aren't tech savvy enough. Otherwise, just assume everything you do online is public and act accordingly.

	▲	adev_ an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Identify theft is annoying, but it rarely has severe effects. I disagree. It has already severe effects. - The fact we are facing so many data leaks made easy for malicious agent to cross and mix data sources and setup much more evolved and convincing scam scheme. It is now trivial to get name, address, birthday and phone number from a data leak and crossed check that with the login id (email) used for lets say, a financial service and setup a convincing phone scam on that. Many dubious actors are already doing that. One acquaintance of mine (working in ITsec ironically) got trapped by this exact scheme last week. - It is trivial to harvest data leaks for online telemarketing, robot calls and any other abusing commercial practices. - We are heading to a situation where any wierdo or/and stalker with a bit of tech knowhow can rather trivially extract a physical address out of an online profile. That is a giant opened door for harassment and physical insecurity for the most vulnerable of us. Thats not just "nerd concerns" and the strategy "everything you do online is public" does not work. Many website will request my personal physical address for trivial matters like billing or delivery. That can not under any mean be considered public data.
	▲	parable 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> Otherwise, just assume everything you do online is public and act accordingly. This is such a depressing reality. It's also what governments want you to believe. If you aren't able to speak your mind about anything anonymously, then you won't be able to, say, spread ideas that go against them. Admitting defeat at all and not even trying to teach people about privacy results in the "I don't care, what's the point?" attitude that plagues many people today.