Comments on: MyPrivacy

Question: MyPrivacy

fucker — Tue, 02 May 2006 03:38:37 -0800

MySpace informs me that others can upload their "Yahoo, GMail, AOL and Hotmail" address books and find me. I don't like that. I'll tell the people I want my private details, which is why I don't put my last name up for employers and whoever to find. So do folks know an answer and/or important privacy tips for MySpace. If not, then it may seriously be time for Myspacecide. When I set up my account I was not prepared for things like this.

By: fucker

fucker — Tue, 02 May 2006 03:40:08 -0800

er. . .that is, was not prepared for things like this. It kind of upset me. It's embarrassing.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 02 May 2006 03:46:05 -0800

[fixed "not" typo]

By: ferociouskitty

ferociouskitty — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:21:33 -0800

I just set up another gmail account that I don't use for anything else and use that for myspace. So no one knows it but me.

By: grouse

grouse — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:21:33 -0800

I see you're looking for "an answer," but what is the question? You don't want people to find you based on the e-mail address you use both for MySpace and for work? Then don't use it for both MySpace and work. Switch your MySpace e-mail to a sneakemail address or something.

By: DangerIsMyMiddleName

DangerIsMyMiddleName — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:33:16 -0800

I think the issue is that Other People who have the poster's email address might upload their address book to MySpace, and so expose fucker's real identity by accident.

There's nothing to do but monitor it and ask them to remove it if it happens. Presumably the people with your address will be your friends.

By: blag

blag — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:35:49 -0800

Um, yeah, this isn't difficult.

Don't use your real name on MS. Don't associate your page with an email address you use for work. Don't visit MS from work.

Unless I'm missing something, problem solved.

By: fucker

fucker — Tue, 02 May 2006 05:10:31 -0800

I didn't know people could do that until a couple of weeks after I signed up, and it isn't letting me switch my email now (that I have an established identity). Am i doinfg something wrong, or can't I do that? My thought also is that there are other privacy "surprises" that I'm still not aware of - how can I protect myself?

By: grouse

grouse — Tue, 02 May 2006 05:47:24 -0800

I don't know for sure. If you can't change your e-mail now, then it should be easy enough (although a slight annoyance) to make a new account.

But really, don't put anything out on the internet that you don't want potential employers to find. You're frequently not as anonymous as you think. This is just one example.

By: jeffxl

jeffxl — Tue, 02 May 2006 06:17:14 -0800

I agree with the rest of them. You can never guarantee anonymity on the internet if you've got a public profile out there, like myspace.

First order of defense would be the email switch up. If you've got a gmail account, change your myspace account to username+myspace@gmail.com, or something similar. You can put +anything in your gmail address, and it will still show up in your inbox. However, I doubt myspace's little search feature will pick up your account if your friend plugs in username@gmail.com. Dig?

But second, if you've got stuff out on the internet that could be a potential hazard to finding a job...well, you might want to re-think that "my favorite porno picz" page with your name and email on it.

By: unixrat

unixrat — Tue, 02 May 2006 06:17:46 -0800

So you went to a social networking site and built a location to meet and be found by other people, yet you somehow want to control who finds you because your identity is some sort of open secret? You didn't think this through.

So here's your answer: The most effective way to wipe out information about yourself is to gradually morph offending information into something else, not delete it. Deleting it will cause the bots and archivers to retain a record of what it was. By changing all the info, it will simply become something it's not and anyone who searches for you will find a site that belongs to "Bob Smith" rather than yourself. They will think the search engines got it wrong and move on. That's your best hope. Chaff the bots into submission.

By: willnot

willnot — Tue, 02 May 2006 07:02:05 -0800

What do you mean it won't let you change the e-mail address?

If you go to Account Settings, the top field is e-mail address. It is an editable field. If you change that and then click the change button, what happens?

By: justkevin

justkevin — Tue, 02 May 2006 07:02:52 -0800

Try the following:

Login and click "Account Settings" from your main home page (not the profile view).

Enter your new email address in the box and hit 'Change.' A red box should appear on the right side of the page asking for the confirmation code that was sent to your old address. Cut and paste from the email and click submit.

If this doesn't work, try posting in the Myspace forums to see if other people have had a problem. I just tried it, but didn't actually commit the change because I don't want to change my email address.

By: fucker

fucker — Tue, 02 May 2006 07:41:03 -0800

It is an editable field. If you change that and then click the change button, what happens?

The page reloads and what I typed disappears, while the old mail address reappears in the textbox.

By: fucker

fucker — Tue, 02 May 2006 07:44:30 -0800

Also it says "Your account settings have been updated" in red above the box. Not true. JK, I don't get the confirmation code thing.

By: jerseygirl

jerseygirl — Tue, 02 May 2006 07:49:48 -0800

You're checking the old email address for the change confirmation email, right?

By: artifarce

artifarce — Tue, 02 May 2006 08:04:50 -0800

I thought it was doing the same thing for me. I hadn't noticed the confirmation code box was to the side. (And then checking the old email for the confirmation...)

By: drstein

drstein — Tue, 02 May 2006 18:37:24 -0800

Just make your myspace profile nice and clean, add no friends except "Tom" and make yourself look like a wonderful human being. ;-)

Or, mark it private.