Outed, by cell phone.

[Lawren]

Just pondering the possibility here.

With so many people carrying cell phones with pic and video capabilities now it is entirely possible to be outed and not even know it.

Hypothetical scenerio:

You go strolling around in the mall minding you own business and happily shopping. Some stranger "reads" you and decides to take a pic/video of you with their cell. Obviously pix are made for sharing, so they show it to several friends and/or send it on to some one elses cell. In any community, Jane knows Jesse, Jesse knows Jeanne, Jeanne knows Jenny, etc., until the pic/story reaches Jasmine who knows and recognizes you in the pic. Jasmine tells some one people that she knows who the CD is and in no time the news is all over town. Bingo! You are outed.

The end results could either be very bad or very good depending on you POV.

It could spell disaster for the indivdual CD. i. e.: divorce, unemployment, ostricism, violence, etc.

It could, however, help the public realize that CDs are more common than they think and thereby desensitize them to our presence in the community. It could prove the them that the vast majority of CDs are just average citizens and not sexual deviants.

The possibilities are endless.

Maybe my imagination is a bit too active but who can explain why your mind dwells on things like this on sleeples nights.

[Karren H]

Possible but not probable, in my opinion. As likely as bumping into someone you know while enfemme or someone stumbling onto your 360 space. And 1000s of pics!! Hmmmmmm. I could be screwed!! Hehehe.

But hey, that's the risks of this type of hobby!! Sky divers have the risk of hitting the ground at a high rate of speed....we have the risk of hitting the real world at a high rate of speed!!!!

Whappppp!!


:)

Love Karren

[Tina Dixon]

But hey, that's the risks of this type of hobby!! Sky divers have the risk of hitting the ground at a high rate of speed....we have the risk of hitting the real world at a high rate of speed!!!!

Whappppp!!

Never looked at it that way before:heehee:

[Deidra Cowen]

But hey, that's the risks of this type of hobby!! Sky divers have the risk of hitting the ground at a high rate of speed....we have the risk of hitting the real world at a high rate of speed!!!!

Whappppp!!

:D :devil: :heehee:

[Nora]

HI Lawren:

Your concern is not all that far fetched. A similar occurence happened to me several years ago. I was at a get together for CDs and naturally the cameras were all out snapping away. I thought nothing of it as I was also using my camera.

Several days later while talking to someone on line in a chat room she referred me to her web site and lo and behold there was my picture in the background. I had no idea at the time that this person was at the get together and had not spoken to her at the time.

Fortuantly nothing happened and no one recognized me. But this shows that in the world of the internet these things can very well happen.

Nora

[Tiffany 1953]

Not to be too depressing but picture phones are only the tip of the iceberg. There are literally hundreds of thousands of full time cameras everywhere we go be it the airport, subway, or Wal-Mart. And with facial recognition software already in place it would be a snap to follow you around. All the traffic flow control cameras, and the huge number of security cameras make this a reality already. Don’t be fooled by the grainy B&W pics you see on TV.

The ulterior motive for the VIP discount cards at your supermarket is to collect data on your shopping habits. From that data and tied to a facial recognition software they will soon be able to custom tailor audio prompts as you shop the aisles. “Jim would you like to buy another set of press on nails and get a free bottle of your favorite Revlon Firecracker red polish.”

Our friends in G.B. are followed even closer than we are here in the States

I know of what I speak on this one, and just think Wal-Mart has the largest data storage base in the world.

I agree that exposure is a risk we all take, and I worked with a crossdresser that “Came-out” at work..

The ridicule and cruel insensitive jokes never stopped to this day,and he was forced to retire 5 years ago. Tiffany

[tekla west]

Tiff is spot on about this one. How do you think that the self-checkout works, heavy surveillance!!! So they have your face, your name (from the credit card) and what you bought.

MySpace/360 are all about NETWORKING, so the idea is to have everyone linked to everyone else in some 6 Degrees of Separation thing. So Karren has a friend who is also on my list, and I'm on all these political lists, two clicks of a mouse and you are from the Democratic Underground (where there are thousands of people) to Karren in her hotel room. All you need is a 'puter, net connection and too much time on your hands - wow, that's a small list eh?

Privacy is a dead letter. Secrets are a dead letter. Orwell in his most morose moment could not dare imagine what we now have. I can walk over a mile in Downtown SF and I will be on camera most of the time. All public transit in SF has cameras on it. Our satellites have good enough imaging that you can zoom in on a picnic table and tell if they are serving coke, pepsi or bud. Or read the license plate on your car.

You have some "fast track" toll booth deal that tracks you. Rental cars have chips that give distance, location, and speed. All hotels have heavy camera presence. Likewise most bars do to, on the cash register at the very least.

Facial recognition software is now pretty good, and in widespread use, and its not going to go away. And the make-up, wig, and silly hat ain't gonna fool it at all.

Cameras are now almost as ubiquitous (god I love that word) as shoes. At concerts we often took cameras away from people (at the artists request only, that was NEVER our decision) but now we are down to "No Professional Lens". That in the last two years. We could not take and check in 2-20K phones at each and every show.

[Deborah]

I think the odds are way to high. From what i've seen on this board most people just laugh then carry on with their life not giving it a second thought.

[Ashley Helen]

Anything is possible. Years ago, not dressed, I ran into a Senior Manager in my Government Department in Portugal, 2000 miles from home. We actually worked about 140 miles apart so acquaintnces more than colleagues.
A few days later I was sat at an outside table on a bar terrace when another work colleague and his wife sat down at the next table. Again, we didn't work in the same office but he did call at my office on a regular basis.
Mobile phone cameras and internet web sites make anything possible.

Helen xx

[Sally24]

Alot of this depends on how much different you look en femme and what steps you take to protect yourself online. I look 10-15 years younger en femme and only vaguely look like my sister. Even if I met someone in person, I'm not sure they would recognise me, in a photo, almost definitely not.

As far as privacy on the web; I try to keep all my male accounts separate from my en femme sites and accounts. Don't use your real e-mail with anyone you don't personally know, chats room don't count as "knowing". And if you're in a small community or a very specialized occupation, for heavens sake don't mention it on the web! I live in a small town and I don't dress anywhere within 40 miles of here. It's all common sense.

Also, I work with high tech software and recording devices sometimes. Most, but not all, of the surveilance software is low quality, poorly set-up, managed by minimum wage people who don't care, and searched by untrained operators who don't know the systems capabilities. Unless you are a real threat to national security, or do something really stupid, you're not going to attract the attention of people who have the time and smarts to figure you out.

Just use your brains people!

Sally

[Eugenie]

Alot of this depends on how much different you look en femme and what steps you take to protect yourself online. I look 10-15 years younger en femme and only vaguely look like my sister. Even if I met someone in person, I'm not sure they would recognise me, in a photo, almost definitely not.


Exactly Sally,

Most of us do look quite different when "en femme" compared to when in DRAB, especially in a picture.

I tested that with a high resolution version of the picture I used for my avatar. It was with a GG friend whom I had been oming out a few weeks before. I showed her the picture and asked her "Do you know that person?"

She looked carefully and said "No, I don't." Then I said "Well, its me..." to which she replied "Unbelievable."

Note that here the person knew that I was x-dressing and yet didn't make the link with me.

So I think the risk of being recognized may be there but it is probably very limited. Even more so with the poor quality of a picture taken with a cell phone.

:hugs:
Eugenie

[tekla west]

As Homer (Simpson, not that Greek guy) says, "All right, brain. You don't like me and I don't like you, but let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer." (the Greek guy did it with wine and mead.)

My best thoughts are that if your out, no one can out you. The earlier you do it in life, the less people you stand to lose. No one can hold public knowledge against you. For everyone who says they can't, I know one person who did.