Everyone: I do not know if you are concerned about internet privacy, but I am.
I have for years used a webmail address that is NOT associated with my first or last name. Note, it is NOT banjopicker66, but was something else.
I would use this address for things like UShip for initial contacts. Once I was satisfied with the subject of discussion, I would switch the point of contact to my banjopicker66 address.
This has allowed me to preserve some measure of anonymity, such as posting on controversial blogs.
Well. UShip just changed their policies.
Now, instead of using my e-mail name, they have forcibly publicized my first name and last initial with my residence and previously private e-mail.
If I was a cussin' drinkin' man..................
Be warned. I closed my account but to no avail. It is now out there.
We do not and have never posted or publicized any user's residence or "private e-mail." Emails and contact information are only exchanged with transport providers after a customer securely accepts a bid for transportation services (auto shipping, in this case).
With regard to the policy change, we actually use the "First name Last initial" format to protect users' privacy. We made this change so users don't get spammed on other sites, services or by email. In the past, a surprising number of users chose to enter their first and last names, or business names, as their public username on uShip. Occasionally, the result was that transportation businesses would go offsite to cold call these customers, send unsolicited emails, or otherwise bother them.
So, the First Name Last Initial format on listings is designed to protect customers. Your email and residence will *never* be made public.
We do not and have never posted or publicized any user's residence or "private e-mail." Emails and contact information are only exchanged with transport providers after a customer securely accepts a bid for transportation services (auto shipping, in this case).
With regard to the policy change, we actually use the "First name Last initial" format to protect users' privacy. We made this change so users don't get spammed on other sites, services or by email. In the past, a surprising number of users chose to enter their first and last names, or business names, as their public username on uShip. Occasionally, the result was that transportation businesses would go offsite to cold call these customers, send unsolicited emails, or otherwise bother them.
So, the First Name Last Initial format on listings is designed to protect customers. Your email and residence will *never* be made public.
First off,
alot of us here know Banjopicker personally -
he is a man of absolutely unquestionable character - PERIOD.
Second,
he probably knows more about computers & the web than the rest of us put together - like I said we know him personally.
If he is not being some how tracked now on the net how is it you found his post on a board dedicated to semi obscure 45 + year old Ford trucks? It's not like it's a Mustang site.
Perhaps there is a misunderstanding and you are unaware of private info being made public by someone connected to your company? I would think perhaps you check that out before questioning a good man's integrity.
I do believe you have a right to defend yourself also -
but perhaps you have some checking to do first?
Sincerely,
"Greg D"
Slick 60s Administrator
1964 F 100 - I am going to do "something" with it.......
First off,
alot of us here know Banjopicker personally -
he is a man of absolutely unquestionable character - PERIOD.
Second,
he probably knows more about computers & the web than the rest of us put together - like I said we know him personally.
If he is not being some how tracked now on the net how is it you found his post on a board dedicated to semi obscure 45 + year old Ford trucks? It's not like it's a Mustang site.
Perhaps there is a misunderstanding and you are unaware of private info being made public by someone connected to your company? I would think perhaps you check that out before questioning a good man's integrity.
I do believe you have a right to defend yourself also -
but perhaps you have some checking to do first?
It is not the first time we got a response in reply to a post, from a company representative, with a first time post.
Second or third in the last few months if memory serves
So if our info is not being put out there could it be ...Keywords?
It's a fact of life, that most things about your internet life can be traced back to you. It might take some digging , or just using one of those site's that specialize in finding intel. on people. By doing certain things, you can make it harder, but it is not possible if you post on the internet on a regular basis to be completely faceless. Statistical analisis alone would probably work to find someone. I symapthize with Banjo as I have done business with him. Good guy, and trustworthy, but wondering from what information he has drawn his conclusion. Perhaps he would explain. As to Uship publishing this data, I can see no reason for it, and a lot for not publishing. This is their customer and client list from which they derive their income. Not something you normally give away.
I think uship probably has their name in a search that anytime their name is posted on the net that it sends them an a e mail about what the post is and where it is posted. I have the same thing for my name, Slick 60's and a few other things. That is how I find out about when someone posts things about us on other forums.
There are some Days I should not be let to go into the public without adult supervision
ALCON: To you my friends here at Slick 60s, your support is overwhelming. I am truly honored to call you my friends.
I am very happy to explain.
Let me start by saying that I have no problem with UShip as a service. It is a great business model bringing shippers and haulers together.
The vendor I used was great as well, easy to work with, gave great service and will make regular runs between AZ and the East Coast.
This grievance is solely over UShip and UShip only, and only over their privacy practices and policies.
UShip, before I go further, you would do well to read the settlement Facebook made with the FTC over privacy violations. Your practices to which I am raising objections are uncannily and eerily similar to Facebook's violations. I am not as ignorant as you think.
Short explanation:
UShip changed my userid from something generic to my first name with last initial. They did this:
Unilaterally
Without advance notice
Without the option to withdraw from the site before it was implemented.
Utterly without regard to the privacy concerns it raised.
Their action made an association in internet searches that was not possible before their changes, in that my special e-mail, first name, last initial and place of residence were all together. Again, this has to do with putting a special user name with all of those together. In other words, that e-mail address which had been unassociated with anything about me for almost a decade was now compromised.
Long answer:
When I signed up with UShip, I put in a user id as my public face through UShip. For purposes of discussion, lets call it "userid" to make it easy.
Behind that, of course, I gave my real name John S. for legal purposes and credit cards. UShip promised it would never give out personal information except as part of transactions (or other normally accepted reasons such as LE). I consider my first name with last initial to be very personal, and thought it would not be made public.
However, UShip changed my public face name from "userid" to "John S." They did it on their own, without advance notice, and without giving me an opportunity to opt out.
Now, thanks to this enforced change, if you search for "userid" you will find that it belongs to John S. in Ridgeland, SC, whereas before, you would not find my name, my residence or my e-mail address, nor would you find any other identifying information. Guess how many people are named John S. in Ridgeland, SC? Only a very few, so it is easy to narrow them all down to me.
Here is what I sent after their after-the-fact announcement:
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Dear UShip -
Your NEW policy is the problem, where you will now publicly publish my first name and last initial.
I chose to use my e-mail name for a purpose, to keep my first name and last initial off the internet searches.
(Once I accept a bid, I communicate with UShip's messaging, which is private and keeps my first name private.)
You have put it back out there.
Your new policy has put it out for public searches by publishing it.
This is exactly why I chose to use my e-mail name, not my personal name.
Sorry UShip, you have too little respect for Internet privacy.
I'll have to use another shipper now, which is a shame.
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Hi John,
I understand your concerns. This is a very common practice of websites. We would never display a last name, only the initial. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best,
Ingrid
Community, Trust & Safety Department
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So much for respecting privacy. Further, UShip's earlier post in this thread fails the sniff test by insisting that involuntarily publishing someone's first name and last initial together is done to protect privacy.
Fellow Slick 60s members: Because I recommended UShip to you all as a group, I felt that UShip's changes negated that recommendation. For your information, I have not published this in any other forum, just here where I made the recommendation.
Thanks for your patience and attention.
To conclude, UShip, I do not make accusations lightly, nor without significant reason.
Apparently you either did not take the effort to make sense of my e-mails to Ingrid, your Tech Support, or you did not read them.
For your information, I have worked in internet and network security for more than a decade. I understand the risks and decorum of internet behavior. Publishing first names on commercial websites is NOT routine business behavior. UShip, this is NOT a common practice as you think. Your assumption indicates you may spend too much time on Facebook, and may think Facebook's practices reflect normal business and private expectations. If this is what you think, you have another think coming.
The proof of this is in your own user ID here at Slick 60s. You didn't use "Ingrid" or "Jack" or whomever, but chose a generic name - just as I chose on your website, but which was eventually and summarily denied. You allow this to yourself here, but at your UShip business you arrogantly deny it to those you claim to help.
I consider your actions to be deceitful, two faced and hypocritical. I further consider misleading business practices of this ilk to render the entity that uses them to be untrustworthy and unreliable.
You would do further well to consider that, like Facebook, you may very wall have committed privacy violations de facto, if not de jure. Most definitely in the court of public opinion. Further, in my opinion, your attempt at damage control here on Slick 60s is quite self effacing, self aggrandizing and pretty shameful to boot.
You would do much better to solve problems in a professional manner that meets your customers' needs rather than arrogating unilateral self serving actions to yourself.
I viewed this as an opportunity to review my own security. I goolgled my email and found 51 pages worth of hits. Yahoo was way too willing to give me up. I tightened up my settings so maybe it will help. Thanks for the diligence.
Hi BOT: Go to Google, and input what you want to search for. For example, do banjopicker66 and you will get a lot of information. That's OK, as this is my public face to the internet.
Next run a search for jspsssjs@hotmail.com - and you will get nothing. That address is an old one I haven't used in years, but it was a private one too.
BOT: If you use Google's home page (www.google.com) this should not happen. Put your e-mail address into the search field. You might also try putting just your e-mail name, that is, without the "@emailwhatever.com" and see what you get.
If it happens again, you are likely infected with a virus.
