This year is scaring the hell out of me. So much has happened.
Good and bad things. So I can't necessarily call this year a "bad one." But weird.
Today I was caught off guard... A letter... From a Prison in California.
Someone I once Knew
At first, I thought it was a random stranger, But the name sounded familiar. That's when I opened the letter and read it, Realizing it was a guy I Knew in high school. He was just saying "remember me." We did this And that.
Blah blah.
You could tell he is hoping for a response. But I don't think that's necessary. We went our separate ways, And I have no desire to communicate.
But the whole thing is so off-putting,
How did he get my address?
Lately I've been concerned
I hate how I started my business; I hate it. Why the hell did I use my real name? I should have come up with a fake name.
I never realized how important it is to protect your name. Especially if you have a name that's unique.
I know that everyone is pretty much listed online. In those stupid "People finder" databases.
Why is it that so much is allowed to put online where anyone can search you?
It's dangerous!
Not only have I been a bit nervous lately, Because of this whole Prison letter nonsense, I mean I know he's locked up, But he could send some pretty scary people my way (Another reason I'm not replying. )
But I also realize as I do online dating, That these guys I am talking to. That seems harmless. Are also looking me up.
I feel so violated.
I'm looking into ways to protect my privacy.
But what can we do? Pay to have our names removed? That's ridiculous.
I never thought I had to protect my name like my social security number!
Maybe I should change my name.
That would work, right? Sure, I'd be under these stupid websites. But If I kept my name a secret, And use my birth name for everyday use. No one would know that my name is something else. I'd be like this strange person that no one knows exists.
"Wait I live next door to Mrs. Jane Smith? Who is that?"
I thought some girl named Kaylin Lived next door. Maybe Kaylin has some rich grandma or something.
What do you do to protect your privacy?
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Oh man that is scary when something like that happens so out of the blue after so many years. Like why does he remember me now and now know where I live etc etc. I wish you the very best id be a bit paranoid and want some answers from law enforcement.
Privacy is the one thing that so few people care to fight for anymore, maybe we just took it for granted or maybe there are just too many hoops that we cannot bother to care.
I went down the online privacy rabbit hole a few years ago and it is extremely difficult to remain anonymous, when online and to remove your information from a two minute google search.
To be honest, at that time it was too challenging for me and I gave up, but I may revisit this rabbit hole again.
btw I hope your friend/acquaintance is ok, it really sucks to see people in jail and my heart goes out to him.
I've used my name for far too much, but at this point what can I do? I'm not too afraid of any stalker, but that's pretty damn creepy!
In the sci-fi world (which seems not too far from reality), people have implants and their location can be tracked! All these technologies can be used for good and bad. Having a fictitious name on social media can make one look like the stranger (with something to hide). Revealing at least part of your name and real picture that your neigbors and relatives recognize may be a good compromise.
I'm so sorry that you are having this experience. Your old friend in jail might just be lonely. You are bringing up some good points about being careful online.
Best wishes!
True! It's okay :) It just creeped me out a bit.
Ok then. Don't worry and be happy!
Privacy is something many people have lost with the fast growing of information technologies everywhere.
Now everyone is one the net.
Maybe we'll have to understand that this is the new order.
Thanks for sharing.
I'll check out the link when my battery is charged
What is really dangerous is Steemit allows anyone including prisoners to view exactly how much net worth you might have in cryptocurrency. Fortunately you're not crypto-rich yet but you never know when the day will come where Steem will go to $10.
Right? I have mixed feelings on the publicness of our wallets. It's cool to see how much everyone is worth. But in the long term that could get scary.
That is pretty scary to know he got your address, but unless you see suspicious people lurking about your neighbourhood you should be alright.
The same is with online dating, or online in general, you can't always help when your details get out or people find it due to how many sites you might be on and can be searched.
Glad to hear from you again and hope your road trip back home has been great and you are keeping safe! :) :)
True! Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid.
Aww Thank you :) I have been! I've been working on my shirt business and I hope to start writing more. I'm having serious Steemit withdrawls hehe.
It's good to have a little paranoia or be cautious at times.
You're welcome, glad to hear all has been well and you have kept busy! Can't wait to see more posts from you soon hehe. :)
Sorry for this bad experience...but i think if you want to be completely private, never ever use the Internet.
True hahah XD
It is totally scary out there! Especially posting photos of yourself with your name, if someone was ever looking for you they would not have a hard time finding you, or me or anyone else!
I don't think any of us thought about this when we started all this social media stuff. It was so new and cool at the time but now looking back hind sight is 20/20.
I hope the letter was a nice one and he just wanted to say hi, if it wasn't maybe you should tell someone, like the police? Stay safe girl!
I agree, that is super creepy. Reading the post and responses makes me remember many years ago. I was carrying my baby into a store, then this guy (creepy looking) got almost in my face and in a mean voice, asked I if remember him. I had no idea who he was, and without responding, walked fast around him and went up to a cashier, to tell them about my encounter. The guy vanished when we went back out. All I could think was, how long had he been stalking me, to know where I was going. To this day, I am still leery where I go.
I hope for your sake, he does not attempt to contact you again. I also wish there was a way to make our wallets on here, only visible to account holder.
Send the letter back saying not at this address. We live in a scary world.
It may be a good idea to use different names for different things. I have my real name, and my blogging name, my business name and my gaming name. With a lot of research, maybe someone could connect them all to me, but I think it helps aa bit to keep different facets of my life separate.
Sounds like it must be working great for you. Ikd if I'd be able to keep track if I had that many, lol.
That is pretty creepy. Did you get a weird feeling from the letter? Do you know what he's in prison for? Keep safe & I hope you don't feel too creeped out. That Robinhood thing looks pretty cool, checking it out now. I love seeing that Laura Lemons drawing at the end of your post <3
That's super creepy! 😕 Stay safe girl!
By the way I never knew RobinHood offered referrals.
Keep your name, then get trained and get a concealed carry permit.
This is exactly the reason why we should be mindful of every site we visit. Hey girl ps be safe
That's a crazy story. You can contact the prison and have them block those letters from being sent to you, but it's still weird that they found your address from prison. Good luck getting that sorted out.
I don't know which is worse, protect your name and still feel like people can stalk and find your true identity, or not hide it and have everyone know. I am with you girl!
Wow that's creepy kaylin :/ I think your safe though I really do and as long as you never did something in any way to hurt him or disrespect him then I believe you'll be okay but I definitely understand how offputting that must have felt. Creepy to the max.. Thankyou for the link to that app I think I'm gonna check it out
Just be careful , it's a cold world out there full of crazy people
This is terribly frightening. It's true, anyone can look up anyone. A woman I know who is in hiding from her ex with her small child must keep moving every few months. She can only stay in one place long enough for the interwebz to propagate her info, as yes there is a restraining order, however, a mentally ill person with a devious plan does not give a little piece of paper a second thought, her past encounters with the individual have proven that. But, nothing can be done until a horrid crime is committed. Sad, huh?
The guy from prison is probably your least problem,
He's probably just lonely.
What you have to be careful about is stalkers..especially when you post/use such lovely pics of yourself (or if they are fake.. Same same),
THAT's what trigger sickos in this world.
Wow, that's pretty scary! I had a stalker at one point in my life and you might want to talk with law enforcement to get some tips on how to deal
with such situations. All the best!
Im sorry that is scary. You might be able to call the prison and ask them not to send anymore letters to you?
Ill have to check out the investing link. Do you have to put moneu
Unless you did something to put that guy in prison I wouldn't worry. He's lonely and bored. He's probably got someone in his family looking up everyone he ever knew so he can send letters, hoping someone writes him back.
Even using fake names, I'm not sure how easy it is to remain truly anonymous in this day and age. And I've done a lot of things under pseudonyms where I realized later it would have been simpler if I'd just worked as the "real me." Building a good reputation is hard, and building several just gets complicated.
But I'm sure things feel very different from a female perspective. Sad but true.
In this case, the best response probably is no response. You don't want to give him anything to cling to in his mind, or any reason to think about you more than he already has. If other letters come, can you just have them stamped "return to sender?"
Is he in prison for a violent crime?
And I thought weird shit happened to me. That's pretty wild, but in the end you went separate ways from that person before they went to jail so clearly your intuition is guiding you well.
Amazzinf story @kaylinart
I read through a couple of your post and noticed several very large photos of yourself included. It's not clear how they furthered your points or writing but its a interesting aspect of the post. That's all I will say on the subject.
As for your privacy online, your personal address should not be associated with what your doing online if at all possible. I use a mail service for my address. If it were me I would make it a priority to get your privacy back even if I had to move.
I wouldn't worry about the inmate and since your not interested wouldn't contact him either. Otherwise you may be his first stop when he is released.
Now that I think about it maybe you should worry a little. If he's reading your blogs!
That's just weird. .