Are we careful enough what we say ?

[Teresa]

I know this subject has been raised before and it's easy to forget that this section is an open forum !

The point hit home when I did a Google search on Transvestic Autogynerphilia , one of the hits opened up a debate held on the forum back in 2009 ! So the forum is open to Google without logging in !! All the members names came up along with their comments ! So it begs the question how long is this retained on Google ?
It occurred to me that some of those members could have encountered problems since by not knowing how accessible they were on a general web search !

[Ressie]

As long as google and crossdressers.com both exist keywords will be searchable. If your true identity isn't revealed here what's the difference? I suppose posting photos could be taking a risk with facial recognition programs.

[Marcelle]

Hi Teresa . . .what Ressie said. I am big believer that unless you are prepared to have others read what you post on the internet (anywhere) then you should use caution when posting.

Hugs

Isha

[Krisi]

Things posted on the Internet or in emails never really go away. This may come back to haunt young people who have taken up "sexting".

You'll notice, most of us don't use our real names and many of us don't post our real home towns. Or our faces.

[Caryn Lynn]

I was doing a search on a crossdressing topic on Google and one of the hits it brought up was in one of the forum posts.
I had never even heard of this site before then. I will guess quite a few if not the majority of people that view this site probably found it through some sort of search.

[Kate Simmons]

Only if we are secret agents. From the Johnny Rivers song Secret Agent Man: "be careful what you say, you'll give yourself away..........." :battingeyelashes::)

[Sarah-RT]

Before I had my current user name I just went by my online name which is my email address, needless to say after a google search I changed my name.
Just did a search there of my current name and nothing on the first page of results. If anyone did discover me through google searching I would question what they were searching for and why

[pamela7]

use an alter-ego here, i even started an alternate email for CD and online-CD shopping. the main threat to id-revelation is the sticky thread of 2 piccies of normal-self and dressed-self ... i'd recommend that be so private that only members can ever see it?

[Jaymees22]

I agree we should be careful. I do use a different name for my CD activities and stopped using other sites for posting pictures or much of anything. Googling my real name I don't find anything, but my CD name gets a few hits that lead to here. So there are probably more risks on the internet than walking out the door, but aren't we taking a risk everyday doing what we're doing. Hugs Jaymee

[cdterri]

I've had this happen just googleing crossdresser on youtube.

[Zylia]

Without any actual inside knowledge a few considerations:
This forum has a few 'private' areas, including the beauty and gallery sections. Needless to say, these sections aren't indexed by Google.

There are a few solutions to stop Google from crawling/indexing websites without actually making them 'private'. It's as simple as asking them not to crawl or index your website by adding a little piece of code to your page. I assume this website deliberately chose not to do that and it's actually part of its succes, for two different reasons:

This website gets a lot of traffic without spending a dime on advertisement. It has little to no presence on websites like Facebook or Twitter, it's all just people typing in random questions in Google and getting referred to this website.

As you might have noted, there's no sign-up or subscription fee for crossdressers.com. If you're worried about your privacy, a fairer question would be: how does crossdressers.com earn money to run its servers and what do they do with my data? It's obviously tied to all the (partly irrelevant) links to dating websites at the bottom of the page, but my guess is it's not direct clicks that make all the money, but the fact that all those pages generated by us members improve those websites' search engine rankings through those links. The website obviously needs Google to crawl this website for that to work.

[AllieSF]

Before I had my current user name I just went by my on line name which is my email address, needless to say after a google search I changed my name.
Just did a search there of my current name and nothing on the first page of results. If anyone did discover me through google searching I would question what they were searching for and why

Sarah, I did the same thing and used an email address name at first and then changed it to my current site name. I have also done searches under my previous email address name and still find links back to this site for my earlier posts under that previous name. Somehow, they are still linked at least through those old posts. Fortunately, the old posts with the old name do not show up on the first page of a Google search.

[Stephanie47]

I think everyone had access to the rules before joining this forum. Anyone can read any entry in the primary section of this forum. You do not have to be a member. Yes, if you post too much information and make some specific comments it is probable a person can make an educated guess to your identity. If you do not clear your history any person will see where you have been. Follow the link and you're here. Then just start reading the comments. I read the comments (lurking) before I decided to join.

Other problems that may arise is due to several accounts on one IP address. Sometimes I shop on-line (eBay or retailers) and then play a game. In the advertising column I get an image of my last views on eBay or Sears, etc. You better sign off totally before having the next person log on as a different user.

And, yes I've seen Google searches lead directly to this forum. In fact several years ago before I joined I found it was possible to view the postings in the picture posting section. I am not a computer nerd by any means. If I can get here, then any advanced nerd can get here. I hope that back door was closed down.

[Laura28]

Google is how I found this site. I searched for telling wife about crossdresser and this is were I landed. So I say thank you google. A if I search my name it refers to this site I even found one image on Google under my name here it was my avitar but if someone is looking hard enough I am sure they can find out many things. I figure I am never going to run for public office so who cares lol

[Cheryl T]

Just think of it this way.
If it's on the web it's there forever.

[ophelia]

Two part answer:
#1...In my profession I deal one-on-one with teens and pre-teens. That is why I do not go near Facebook or Twitter etc.. A careless comment can quickly become subject of the "telephone game" treatment and all of a sudden you're not even welcome in the doghouse.
Even letters to editors we wrote ten years ago are there on the web for good and can be currently recalled and taken completely out of context.
#2...Dressing in public has a risque element to it for me and that releases a heavy dose of endorphines...which adds to the "pink fog" , which loosens lips and ....sinks ships.

[Dianne S]

You should take this viewpoint: Anything you post on the Internet will be available forever. Anyone will be able to find it. And you must be prepared to be confronted by it years or even decades later.

So don't post anything unless you can live within the above constraints.

[MsVal]

I'm comfortable having an online history.

I can find my online computer geek musings dating back to 1986.
Wow! That's 29 years ago. I must have been 10 years old at the time.

If people find my cd.com musings prior to hearing about it from me, it may make the disclosure easier, as in "I wondered if that was you and wondered when you'd come out."

Best wishes
MsVal

[Eryn]

Most of the forum areas are restricted to members, but MTF is open to all. This is required to attract new members as few would sign up if they couldn't read a bit first.

Still, prudence dictates that one assume that one's words are not private. Nobody can predict what will happen with the forum archives

[Sarah-RT]

Searched my old user name and some of my first posts were there, albeit 12 pages deep and there was a lot of uninteresting stuff in between that would prevent someone bothering to dig that deep.
With everyone saying about the easy viewing access to the forums i noticed there were 70 or so members online and about 250 guests

I guess having a picture of myself here and the country im from would give the game away, so anyone reading this who knows me; How are you? I think we should talk

[susan54]

I agree that we need caution. There is no photograph of me, and no precise location. Where |I give locations in posts, like tonight's on Stirling, that does not correspond to where I live. The one that worries me is the possibility of a web crawler that identifies writing style, and I change my style quite deliberately to insure against this - I even drop in an occasional mistake that the real me would never make. I have a spare small netbook that is used for CD and nothing else. And I am not on facebook.

[Mink]

as for that whole "once it's on the web it's there forever!!" ... not true!

I had some geocities sites from 2001/2002 or so and I can never see them again

not even thru archive.org / the way way black machine!

:(

lost forever!

like tears... in the brain

[CynthiaD]

I found this site through a google search. I'm glad it worked. Posting anything online means you give up some secrecy. But I'm not a big fan of the "deep dark secret" anyway, so I really don't care. Oh, and Cynthia is my real name. Not my legal name, of course. But it's my real name.

[DorothyElizabeth]

My grandfather and my father were both radio buffs. (My grandfather held a "ham" license from 1909 forward until his death, except when he had to take his antenna down during WW I.) They preached to all of us kids that anything you broadcast is just that - broadcast, and receivable by anyone with the proper equipment. My father taught us all that even the "landline" telephone isn't really secure, since it has to go through so many switching circuits.

[grace7777]

I realize that posting on this forum and having a picture of me with my city of residence, with other personal information about me in my profile opens me up to being outed by people I know. Yet I am fine with that. A few years ago being outed would have been devestating, but yet with each day that passes the fear of being outed lessens.

[AccidentalDresser]

I suppose posting photos could be taking a risk with facial recognition programs.

If anyone found this page and recognised my behind from my photo I would have to question how long they had been examining my behind and why.
Don't think I will ever have to worry about frilly butt recognition technology. Especially since the laptops web cam does such a poor image anyway.
Next time I will put the laptop on a table not a chair though lol

[Ressie]

AccidentalD, the photo does kind of draw in one's attention. I'd like to get my butt to look like that all the time!

[AccidentalDresser]

It's the worst angle ever.
My butt looks huge while the top seems to fade away into a stick figure. I am more evenly shaped from the correct angle.
I am not very good at selfies.