Has your picture, profile or post been found?

[abigailf]

Has anyone been outed (or found out) because someone saw your picture or post in:

1. these forums,
2. facebook or other social network, and/or
3. flickr or other picture database site

Even if you are out already, has anyone you know ever come across your profiles or pictures by accident?

I am curious and would like get an idea of frequency.

--

I have had pictures on this forum and flicker and some other meetups since about 2009 and nobody I know or work with have said they have seen me. I know there are many others who have been posting for much longer.

[kimdl93]

My picture has been posted in my avatar, profile and a picture post since last July, Im not aware of anyone seeing it who wasn't supposed to.

[Julia_in_Pa]

Yes. I've been profiled in various print media from Montana as well as here in Pennsylvania.
Mostly newspaper write ups showing what transition is like and what being intersexed is like.


Julia

[STACY B]

Wouldnt it be great if one of your real good friends saw ya an said hey I didnt know your a CD me too ,,, Lets party !!!

[AllieSF]

I haven't had anything about me knowingly been found by someone I know. However, I have informed a member here twice when I saw her pics used by someone else on Craigslist dating area. She is super cute and hot and now sometimes models for a T specific on line store. So, she would spice up anyone's ad.

[suzy1]

Would they recognise you if they did?
And why would anyone you know be looking for abigailf?

I typed in Suzy1 in Google last week, clicked on Images. Scrolled down [a long way] and there I was in all my glory!

Am I worried? No.

[JLynn17]

im pretty recognizable by my pictures i have up, but at work im known as the boy who wears make-up so what does it really matter lol

[Frances]

No. The pictures are really me, but I don't use my real name anywhere on the forum. Only someone interested in trans issues would find me. I have used my name once in a post and it came up in a Google search. I had it removed (locked thread).

[Ally 2112]

I have never posted any pic's of myself .But i did go out as a girl 2 halloweens ago with my GF being the guy (she knew ) .We stopped by a friend of hers and she took a pic of us and posted it on my face book page. It is still there to this day i don't know how to delete it lol . Im surprised a lot more did not end up on my page as a lot of pictures were takin of me that night and i did put a fair amount of effort to look passble .But stopped short of looking too passible i still had a goatee which is now gone and shall stay that way

[Frances]

I have never posted any pic's of myself .But i did go out as a girl 2 halloweens ago with my GF being the guy (she knew ) .We stopped by a friend of hers and she took a pic of us and posted it on my face book page. It is still there to this day i don't know how to delete it lol . Im surprised a lot more did not end up on my page as a lot of pictures were takin of me that night and i did put a fair amount of effort to look passble .But stopped short of looking too passible i still had a goatee which is now gone and shall stay that way

She probably tagged you. You can remove the tag or make tagged photos of you only visible to you.

[Jorja]

Yes. My picture was taken from another fourm site and photo-shopped then placed on porn sites. Only my head/face was used but it was very disturbing to open the sites and find myself naked for all to see looking back at me (I wish that had been my body). It ended up costing me several thousand dollars to get the pictures removed. This is why I do not even post and avatar picture now. All that for something I didn't even do. Never again!

[abigailf]

Would they recognise you if they did?
And why would anyone you know be looking for abigailf?


Early on I don't think anyone would have recognized me as I looked quite different. Now however as I tend to appear more feminine all the time I think people would notice immediately. I don't look all that different anymore.

However, I could give a rat's arse if anyone discovered me. I suppose if someone really wanted they could search and seek and find my name attached to those pictures, but again it doesn't matter if they did. I just thought this would be an interesting statistic to explore.

I would say Jorga had it the worse. That would suck to find your pics on porn sights. However, it must have been flattering to some degree that someone thought you had the right look to attract porn seekers.

[Rianna Humble]

I wasn't outed by these means, I came out. This was followed by a sensitive newspaper article followed by a hatchet job in one of this country's most disreputable tabloids which then went viral on the net. The only pics of me I could find in a google Image search were taken from those articles in the papers.

It would be difficult for anyone to come across me by accident, since I am already out there. However, my presence of facebook is strictly limited and does not appear yet to have leached onto other sites.

[Jessinthesprings]

Nope, but I outed myself in world of warcraft. a friend of mine gave me her email address and my real ID came through and she wrote me "Who's Jessica?" It was nerve wracking at first but after we talked everything was good.

[noeleena]

Hi,

I think the best i can do is , going back 54 years we had friends who lived next door to us when we lived in Rutherford street in Woolston in Christchurch, our, house was taken out for a river that was to be done in the 60's,

When i was interviewed for two T V stations 4 years ago, my friend from then saw my name even tho as she knows i was known as noel . & when my name of noeleena came up she knew who i was, at the same time another friend going back 40 years allso knew,
& both of them rang me & we had a lovely chat my address & phone number were given out for any one to ring me someting i wonted to be done this of cause is how i wonted it because i am well known by many people going back over the years, & this was through out N Z,

& i have spent time with them & catching up on things & yes we keep in contact,

& one other reason being my facial features have not changed enough that people dont reconise me, from my pics,

...noeleena...

[Talldrinkofwater]

This also got my curiosity flowing and sure enough if you search your username with the tag "crossdressers" it will show random posts you commented on. Just fyi

[paulaprimo]

wow, i just googled my name, and threads i started in this forum, showed up complete with avatar pic...kinda scary!

[Amber99]

There is no way I would put pictures of myself here for that reason.

[Starling]

I began a year ago to restrict my photos to members-only areas. I want my privacy, but I don't want to be invisible to the people who share so much with me, so that's the best I can do.

:) Lallie

[AudreyTN]

just be careful where you post. I hope anyone on here wouldn't be so cruel as to do something such as taking people's pics off here and then posting them somewhere else, and if anyone is caught doing so they should be banned permanently.

but employers and law enforcement and advertisers are all employing facial recognition software, and this software can search the internet for pictures that match your biometric facial characteristics.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1305191/Facial-recognition-software-allow-ability-identify-people-photographs-internet.html


http://tommytoy.typepad.com/tommy-toy-pbt-consultin/2011/08/as-internet-giants-facebook-inc-and-google-inc-race-to-expand-their-facial-recognition-abilities-new-research-shows-how.html


the internet is a very very dangerous place if one isn't careful in regards to their private information.

[Jorja]

just be careful where you post. I hope anyone on here wouldn't be so cruel as to do something such as taking people's pics off here and then posting them somewhere else, and if anyone is caught doing so they should be banned permanently.

but employers and law enforcement and advertisers are all employing facial recognition software, and this software can search the internet for pictures that match your biometric facial characteristics.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1305191/Facial-recognition-software-allow-ability-identify-people-photographs-internet.html


http://tommytoy.typepad.com/tommy-toy-pbt-consultin/2011/08/as-internet-giants-facebook-inc-and-google-inc-race-to-expand-their-facial-recognition-abilities-new-research-shows-how.html


the internet is a very very dangerous place if one isn't careful in regards to their private information.

Just to be clear, it did NOT happen on this site.

[Joann Smith]

Not real sure if i have been outted or not ,,,But one of my sisters link keep comming up in the the people i may know on section on my facebook page ....not sure if she has viewed my page or not but i know for a fact that i have never visited hers and we have no friends in common...

[Ciel]

Outed? Yes. profile photos and tagged pics in facebook were seen by friends and family. some asked, and some still whispering behind shadows - but the change was definitely noticed. quite a few PM'ed me through the same social network, and asked "what is happening?" or "what's up with you these days?". i just let it all out. i'm tired or hiding anyway.

[vikki2020]

I have pics posted in quite a few places, but, haven't had that happen, to my knowledge. If it does, I am not too concerned about it, and may be the push I need. Hope they see one of the "good" ones!

[jaye_cd]

I'm not too worried about it. There's a male porn star who happens to have the same name as my given name, and a teenager named Jaye who posts tons of CD videos of herself on You Tube. Between those two, I doubt my bland pics would ever be noticed if they surfaced outside of here.

[ArleneRaquel]

Not as far as I know. I do have pics online, but not here.

[Melody Moore]

I am not going to be posting very much on this forum anymore after I found out that I have
been getting stalked on the internet by other local trans women who have been reading my
posts on this forum. This should be a safe place that should NOT be accessible to the public
because now I am thinking about leaving this forum because I have realised it is not safe here.

[Frances]

I am not going to be posting very much on this forum anymore after I found out that I have
been getting stalked on the internet by other local trans women who have been reading my
posts on this forum.

What happened? Can you elaborate?

[Melody Moore]

Frances, I got some feedback last week where someone tried to take something I said here and use it against
me. This happened because I am a support group coordinator & political activist & there are some very militant
"trans rights activists" causing me problems because I am transsexual, but on the other hand there are some
"true" transsexuals who are against my more inclusive agenda with the local community. I have been caught in
the crossfire of this crapshoot between two very extreme groups in the community.

Politics in the trans community, especially in so called support groups? who needs it?

[CharleneT]

I've been recognized by several people and had it come back to me - but not in a bad way. Early in transition I did an interview on TV - which was not supposed to be about transition! It was about being a model for artists. The interviewer asked Q's almost exclusively about transition ... arrrggg.... that interview bothered me for a long time and several men I wanted to date or were dating, found it. I'm happy to report that it was a student newspaper and the student did not maintain the reference, the link died after a couple of years. Guess she did not go on in the news biz.... which solved the problem for me :D

If you are worried about people finding your posts here - and there is good reason for that - don't use real pictures and be careful of what you say. Most of the forums here are searchable via google. That is not true of the restricted ones like "Safe Haven" though. Your posts there cannot be searched by any normal means. You can speak more freely there.

[noeleena]

Hi,

Through out N Z, T V . papers & the net,& being known where we lived,:)

names of no-el = noeleena.

...noeleena...

[Jorja]

This happened because I am a support group coordinator & political activist & there are some very militant "trans rights activists" causing me problems because I am transsexual, but on the other hand there are some "true" transsexuals who are against my more inclusive agenda with the local community. I have been caught in the crossfire of this crapshoot between two very extreme groups in the community.

Politics in the trans community, especially in so called support groups? who needs it?

If one wears a bullseye, should they not expect to get shot at?

[shyselina]

No!! I try to be very careful who see's my pics and not to show my face.. Yet

[Aprilrain]

Almost everyone I know knew me before and those who didn't know me before soon find out one way or the other so why hide? As far as dating is concerned I wouldn't want it to go very far before telling, why get attached only to be rejected or worse!

[Badtranny]

wow, i just googled my name, and threads i started in this forum, showed up complete with avatar pic...kinda scary!

You googled your USER ID. If you're closeted nobody knows it.

The internet is a big bad scary place just like the real world. I suggest everyone try enjoying their lives a bit and not being so paranoid about your own lifestyle. YOU are transgendered and secrets will rot your soul.

[*Vanessa*]

If you are wondering this may help a little;

- all of the thread posts, email, PMs, etc on this site are stored in a database and probably that database is connected through a router to many servers. The end result is, it is next to impossible for an outside search engine to even fine the database let alone mine it.

- fb, well what can I say. You do have setting and select who you will like to post to. The games and Apps that you give access to your info are another matter. Data mining on fb is quite easy, but who has time to look for anyone, let alone someone in particular.

- flickr, watch your image data, file names, image titles, and tags. Check your stats to see what outside App is mining your images, I think you will be surprised. Pro-photographers like myself, use this to our advantage for free advertising.

EDIT: "YOU are transgendered and secrets will rot your soul." - Badtranny Love it!! lol

[Beth-Lock]

If one wears a bullseye, should they not expect to get shot at?

I think it is natural and healthy to expect the best from people and even the general public. Give them the benefit of the doubt in other words. Or, as my best friend argues, you can't live your life in fear and as a result be affraid to do anything.

You have my sympathy, Melody. Hopefully, it will all blow over after a while.

[Kristyn Hill]

I just googled my username with and without crossdresser and nothing came up. shrew.

[Tamara Croft]

wow, i just googled my name, and threads i started in this forum, showed up complete with avatar pic...kinda scary!

Log out of the board and then go google your name, you'll find that the only threads that pop up are the ones in the open sections visible to everyone. The sections that state 'members only' will not come up in google unless you're signed in.


This should be a safe place that should NOT be accessible to the public
because now I am thinking about leaving this forum because I have realised it is not safe here.

If it wasn't accessible to the public, how would we get members? It is safe here, if you've made enemies, that's not our fault, that's because of what you're posting and let's face it, I thought I could be mean, but you often take that to a whole new level!

[TxKimberly]

You know, I just this week had someone on this forum tell me that I had provided so much information on my posts and in my blog, that someone would have little or no trouble getting my real name. Not only that, but she followed up by telling me my real name - and she was right!
I dont post my real name because I dont want to risk my employment, but I'm not terribly shy about sharing it with people. I have honestly reached the point where I am comfortable with who I am and so I do not fear people finding me out so much.
In the last decade (God, I cant believe I've been active that long) I've met a LOT of TG folks, and would trust my life to the majority of them. I know that it sounds self serving, but I honestly think that the majority of TG folks are better people than the "muggles". Still, this person made me pause and wonder if I might not be too naive

[Badtranny]

My real name is currently Bill Cherry and in a few months it will be changed to Melissa Hobbes Cherry.

The pics I've posted lately are pretty much exactly what I look like everyday.

Should I be afraid now?

[Annaliese]

I am no sure yet I had sent a e-mail from my male account to my fem account, and that is when I notice that friend notices were sent out to all my family and friend and student from my fem face book. It was a only a matter of 30 minutes before I notice it, I d-Friend my self and drop my picture for a while off face book, that was last summer I have not heard from any one yet keeping my fingers crossed.

[Helen Grandeis]

The only people who can be googled are people who somehow are national / international celebrities in the Rupert Murdock press.

[AllieSF]

Melissa, they really should be afraid. You with a new name, new looks and little growing girls will almost be too much to handle by us innocent bystanders. Let me know when the big name change day is, and if you need a witness or someone to go with you, call me.

For some, staying hidden to others is important. I believe that each individual needs to decide when and how they start letting their real self out to this site and the real world. The main fact here is that this is a very public site and care should be taken if one is concerned about some overexposure.

[Badtranny]

Melissa, they really should be afraid. You with a new name, new looks and little growing girls will almost be too much to handle by us innocent bystanders. Let me know when the big name change day is, and if you need a witness or someone to go with you, call me.

Oh you will definitely know since we both share the same Dom ...uh, I mean Electrologist and she gets to hear all about my trans drama every week. She should charge more just because she has to listen to me. ;-)

By the way, the "growing girls" will be augmented very soon as well. I'm not gettin' any younger.

[AllieSF]

Melissa, nice avatar pic, is it new?

[Badtranny]

Melissa, nice avatar pic, is it new?

Yes and you know very well you were standing right next to Angie when she took it. In fact I think you asked me if I wanted a comb.

I should note for the viewers that there was no makeup and no wig. That's raw me baby! Luckily the lighting wasn't very good.

[stacie]

Back when I had a picture on my profile I got so BUSTED!!! I was fired from my job, kick out of the church, the FBI and CIA showed up at my home and tar-n-feathered me. Since then I have been Chained and Shackled in the town square were people laugh at me:(

[suzy1]

Back when I had a picture on my profile I got so BUSTED!!! I was fired from my job, kick out of the church, the FBI and CIA showed up at my home and tar-n-feathered me. Since then I have been Chained and Shackled in the town square were people laugh at me:(

I can’t believe it. The same happened to me too!
And I lost my membership to the modal airplane club.:eek:

SUZY

[Helen Grandeis]

You know, I just this week had someone on this forum tell me that I had provided so much information on my posts and in my blog, that someone would have little or no trouble getting my real name. Not only that, but she followed up by telling me my real name - and she was right!
I dont post my real name because I dont want to risk my employment, but I'm not terribly shy about sharing it with people. I have honestly reached the point where I am comfortable with who I am and so I do not fear people finding me out so much.
In the last decade (God, I cant believe I've been active that long) I've met a LOT of TG folks, and would trust my life to the majority of them. I know that it sounds self serving, but I honestly think that the majority of TG folks are better people than the "muggles". Still, this person made me pause and wonder if I might not be too naive

As long as you continue to provide "value added" for the shareholders. You have nothing to worry about with your job particularly since you don't show up at the clients en femme.