Lots of good advice here about using hobby phones, separate email accounts, etc. in order to preserve anonymity. But what of TER itself? I signed up and paid for "VIP" status a few times, and now I regret that, as surely it provides an easy way to link my hobby self back to reality?

the crime?

But the business itself is based in The Netherlands. The chances of US LE obtaining the records of TER are virtually nil.  TER is a multi million dollar business cooperating with US LE would virtually end them being a viable business, they would fight any attempt by US LE to seize the records with every resource available to them,  and even if LE was successful in an international court, TER would tie them up in court for so long that only your grandchildren would have anything to worry about

I cringe when I see people give out personal information on themselves in their posts.

They let slip things like the city they live in, what kind of work they do, their age, physical descriptions, etc.

Someone with a little bit of computer know-how can take this data and narrow down things to the point of having a pretty good idea who you are.

to TER? Don't need to go to Netherlands for that. I guess the mere connection could be used to embarrass him in some circumstances, but that sure would be the difficult route to busting someone for mongering.  Showing up at the door is a lot simpler.

i think that the difference between TER membership versus hobby phones and email is that the latter are more likely to be directly involved in an agreement between two people to meet.

So you want to share that cute little photo. I have seen more people" outed" because you can track the photo back to the site. If it's not secure, Smith family reunion pictutures, your new house, car and in one extreme case a guy's self published book became public. Some peoples sites have their name in the title. "Bill Smiths bucket."

I saw a lady who wanted contact by email. I googled her email and found out a lot about her. In particular she had been asking about a specific medical condition, on a health board, using that email. After we were done I asked her about the specific issue. Her head spun around like Linda Blairs in the, "Exorcist." I explained how I knew that and she said, "God im an idiot."

Phone numbers have been talked about forever. With so many people ditching landlines for cell, that opens up new avenues for problems. A through search of your phone number may turn up a utility account. Boom I know where you live.

Do you live in an area with automatic toll collecting on roads? That's the first thing divorce lawyers in Illinois want to get their hands on.

Hell, I just upgraded the software on my iPad. Needless to say I dont book mark this side. Low and behold the iPad shows it, like a bookmark as a frequently visited site. I have to figure out how to change that.

We all leave digital finger prints all over the place. Don't think you don't.

-- Modified on 10/28/2014 9:56:17 AM

data from users for valuable marketing information. If you use a Windows system then Microsoft owns you; if you use Android then Google owns you; if you use an iPhone or Macbook then Apple owns you. They never forget. And frequently, they go out of their way to share your info with others in order to suck you and your contacts further into their network.

Bingo. I think the CC usage to buy VIP status is a high risk, no? A red flag if anyone ever goes through CC spend records.

All very true. But there are also ways to deal with all the issues you list  -  anonymous email, Tor, hobby dumb phones, etc.  But a CC record seems unavoidable if buying VIP here, which then ties one directly to identity on here. Seems like the biggest hole in anonymity in the scheme of things to me.

in a contested divorce, if wife's lawyer seeks credit card information.

As others note, the biggest security risk is you and your habits or operational security.

Do you get home, log into email and another site, then log into TER from the same IP at about the same time?
Can stylometry (the way you write) be used as credible support between unrelated identities?
Do you inadvertently say who you are through unique identifiers like hobbies, vehicles, travel, etc, and which are also discussed openly in other sites at about the same time?

Biggest issue is whether or not there's a reason for trying to file charges against you:
1) are you a seated politician
2) are you running for office
3) are you advocating one view in public while pursuing the opposite in private
4) are you a financial target for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
5) are you involved with groups on certain governmental watch lists
6) does your metadata link you to others who are being actively surveilled
7) has your identity been compromised and used by someone else to make #4-6 a greater possibility

I'm assuming you've enacted a credit freeze or fraud alert with the credit reporting agencies; and have placed your phone number(s) on the do not call registry; and have elected to have your phone numbers unlisted; and are using a disposable phone number for hobby purposes; and have placed your mobile device IP and MAC addresses on the do not track database; and use a TOR plus a VPN when accessing TER or similar content; and access at hours and from locations that are not common for you to habit; and alter your writing style and perhaps introduce false markers or fake identifiers; and don't cross-post content on other sites.  I'm probably missing a few other things you can do

[Quote]Needless to say I don't book mark this side. Low and behold the iPad shows it, like a bookmark as a frequently visited site.