Member Locations

[dthomsen8]

Do member locations help you give advice and help? Most regulars provide their location. Some are somewhat vague, but many are specific.

What do you think? Do you have a location given?

(I am in Philadelphia, PA 19130, and that red thing is supposed to be a row house with a door and window below, and two windows above.)

[ktinkel]

Do member locations help you give advice and help? Most regulars provide their location. Some are somewhat vague, but many are specific.

What do you think? Do you have a location given?

(I am in Philadelphia, PA 19130, and that red thing is supposed to be a row house with a door and window below, and two windows above.)I describe my location without specifying the town. I like to know where people are from, at least roughly — if nothing else, you can commiserate on their lousy weather or other events.

But I also understand that people are nervous about spreading the details far and wide.

[Michael Rowley]

KT:

But I also understand that people are nervous about spreading the details far and wide

Why should they be nervous? Do they imagine a sinister-looking man is going to sidle up to them, and mutter, ‘We know where you live’?

[ktinkel]

Why should they be nervous? Do they imagine a sinister-looking man is going to sidle up to them, and mutter, ‘We know where you live’?Mutter, no. Act on the knowledge, yes.

They already do, in my case.

[Michael Rowley]

KT:

All right; though I should have said that looking up an address is the easier course than hanging about forums.

[iamback]

All right; though I should have said that looking up an address is the easier course than hanging about forums.You're forgetting about search engines. Publishing an address (or something close to an address) at any indexable place will enable looking up an address - by simply plugging a name into a search engine. You don't need to hang about the neighborhood of that page at all. And on many forums and community sites (including this one), robots are free to index the profile page.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

And on many forums and community sites (including this one), robots are free to index the profile page.

I did not know that. But anyone is free to know I live in Ipswich: the people that send me junk post know that anyway. So what is the objection to letting people know that it is not Ipswich in Queensland (I think), Canada, or USA? The people that want to remain anonymous probably use pseudonyms.

[Bo Aakerstrom]

The people that want to remain anonymous probably use pseudonyms.
Or say that they live in Derby...

It is all too easy to find out where someone lives anyway, so trying to hide is futile.

[ktinkel]

Or say that they live in Derby...

It is all too easy to find out where someone lives anyway, so trying to hide is futile.That is not necessarily so. Although most of us do not go to great lengths to hide our locations (or identity), if you want to, you probably can make it difficult for all but the most skillful to find your address.

If you have a web site and do not cloak your identity, of course you can be found.

However, it is still silly to post your home address on a public forum like this one; that invites spammers of little skill to bother you.

[Bo Aakerstrom]

Sorry, that was a bit "tongue in cheek".:o
I would not post my home address in a forum, or any other really private details for that matter.
But if people are intent on finding out stuff about us they can quite easily do so anyway.

[dthomsen8]

Sorry, that was a bit "tongue in cheek".:o
I would not post my home address in a forum, or any other really private details for that matter.
But if people are intent on finding out stuff about us they can quite easily do so anyway.
"Think before you post." There are public service TV ads advising just that, mainly aimed at teens and children, but good advice for all of us.

However, if someone with a handle that does not reveal their name in this forum tells us that they live in California, I don't think that they have revealed enough for us to find them. They have revealed enough for us to know their time zone, and that they have available resources that may not be so available if they live in India.

Beyond that, no one has knocked on my door, or called me on the telephone, from what they see about me online, here or elsewhere. There was a domain name registrar trying to scam me into switching to them, but they sent me snail mail.

[dthomsen8]

Mutter, no. Act on the knowledge, yes.

They already do, in my case.What do they do?

[George]

Do member locations help you give advice and help? Most regulars provide their location. Some are somewhat vague, but many are specific.


At times there are cultural concerns regarding reviewed issues. However, these do not require specific location knowledge. (We've discussed before why location knowledge should be limited on the internet.)

I remember once posting on paper, and you responded you liked paper with cotton content for important correspondence. But that is Philadelphia and various eastern cities. I tried to buy cotton content paper in a large western city once, and the clerks in the downtown stationaries looked at me like I was some one who must have just landed from Mars. There are places where no one knows anything about such paper, and where reference to it confirms theories on professional therapy. But I do have some, as I grew up in the East, and in case I should want to send you a letter after looking up your address.

George

[dthomsen8]

...
I remember once posting on paper, and you responded you liked paper with cotton content for important correspondence. But that is Philadelphia and various eastern cities. I tried to buy cotton content paper in a large western city once, and the clerks in the downtown stationaries looked at me like I was some one who must have just landed from Mars.
...
Staples and Office Max have high quality paper and envelopes. They have driven the ordinary stationery stores out of business here.

However, your message makes my point. Location makes a difference in what is available in goods and services.

[George]

Staples and Office Max have high quality paper and envelopes. They have driven the ordinary stationery stores out of business here.

However, your message makes my point. Location makes a difference in what is available in goods and services.

Only general knowledge of location is necessary and only at times. I know from experience, I can make my location virtually impossible to find when I want to, but my objective now usually is only to make it difficult. No doubt my assessments will continue to change as time goes on, but one should always review these type matters with professionals, and then, don't be surprised at the advice given. But Staples and Office Max do not have quality paper where I'm at now. However, there are some stores that do -- hmm, I forget their names, but I know how to drive there.

George

[Bo Aakerstrom]

There was a domain name registrar trying to scam me into switching to them, but they sent me snail mail.
We get that in "Derby" as well.

[Steve Rindsberg]

We know where *you* live, Mr. Rowley.

(sorry, you'll have to take the "sinister-looking" on faith - I don't do it well in person)

[Michael Rowley]

KT:

it is still silly to post your home address on a public forum No one is doubting that: but Dave was suggesting that a little more openness about a forum member’s place of residence would be helpful; I like your ‘In Connecticut, on the Housatonic River near its mouth at Long Island Sound’, for instance.

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

We know where you live, Mr. Rowley

Ooh, clever! . . . or did you just type ‘Michael Rowley’ in Google? I deduce only that you are American from the full stop, but I would tell the police that you looked sinister and were between five and seven feet tall . . .

[ktinkel]

What do they do?Mostly send mail, but my old phone number got disseminated, and then I got lots of calls. (That was 5 years ago; I haven’t had that problem recently.)

While I like to have an address and phone number for an on-line business, I don’t think it is reasonable to expect individuals to divulge their home address.

[iamback]

While I like to have an address and phone number for an on-line business, I don’t think it is reasonable to expect individuals to divulge their home address.So what if they work from home? You don't necessarily have to receive clients there, you could go visit your clients - so is an address really necessary if people can reach by phone and by email?

[ktinkel]

So what if they work from home? You don't necessarily have to receive clients there, you could go visit your clients - so is an address really necessary if people can reach by phone and by email?It shouldn’t be. But lack of an address raises questions about trust and reliability for some.

I ran a writing business and graphic design studio out of my home for decades. My address and business phone number were on my letterhead, business card, and invoices. But the web changed things, and it was after it became a factor that I began to get the icky phone calls and letters — and I never posted my address or phone number on the web.

Now all I get are those wacky invitations to transfer my domain registrations to an unknown place that charges more than 3 times what I am paying now. I can cope with that, and felt for a long time that domain ownership should not be private.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

So what if they work from home? You don't necessarily have to receive clients there, you could go visit your clients - so is an address really necessary if people can reach by phone and by email?

As Kelvyn reminded us in the UK some time ago (early 2007), if you advertise trade or profession on the Web, you have to reveal your address; the same regulations have long applied to written communications. Similar regulations apply EU-wide, and I suspect in USA etc. as well.

[terrie]

michael: and I suspect in USA etc. as well.There is no such requirement here in the US...

Terrie

[Michael Rowley]

Terrie:

There is no such requirement here in the US

The only regulations I know of are the UK Companies Act and the Business Names Act, which are paralleled to a large extent by the state acts in the USA, and I don’t know about the latter, obviously. But if the US regulations are ignored as often as they are in the UK, there could have been some similar requirements here. It is only recently that our government woke up to the fact that services are frequently advertised on the Web.

[ktinkel]

As Kelvyn reminded us in the UK some time ago (early 2007), if you advertise trade or profession on the Web, you have to reveal your address; the same regulations have long applied to written communications. Similar regulations apply EU-wide, and I suspect in USA etc. as well.Not in the U.S. That sort of rule would have to come from the individual states.

No such law applies to me, that is for sure.

[Steve Rindsberg]

> between five and seven feet tall . . .

He's got me pegged, sure as life.

[iamback]

As Kelvyn reminded us in the UK some time ago (early 2007), if you advertise trade or profession on the Web, you have to reveal your address; the same regulations have long applied to written communications. Similar regulations apply EU-wide, and I suspect in USA etc. as well.I know that is true in the UK, and in Germany as well. I'm not sure it's true in the Netherlands, but I can check - I don't think so, though! I know of professional sites (like one for a well-known free-lance web developer) that do not have an address anywhere, only a contact form.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

I know of professional sites (like one for a well-known free-lance web developer) that do not have an address anywhere, only a contact form

It is not difficult to find Europeans offering goods or services on the Web but not conforming with their country’s law, even though that implements an EC Directive; and there are members of the EU that have not yet complied with all Directives. However, I think the Netherlands is generally a Musterknabe in that respect—like the UK, surprisingly.

[iamback]

It is not difficult to find Europeans offering goods or services on the Web but not conforming with their country’s law, even though that implements an EC Directive; and there are members of the EU that have not yet complied with all Directives. However, I think the Netherlands is generally a Musterknabe in that respect—like the UK, surprisingly.But we're also pretty good as far as privacy regulations are concerned (though it's been better)... Anyway, I'll enquire.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

But we're also pretty good as far as privacy regulations are concerned

Privacy has nothing to do with advertising the supply of goods or services.

[iamback]

Privacy has nothing to do with advertising the supply of goods or services.But it does with publishing private data - and a residential address can certainly be considered private data.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

But it does with publishing private data - and a residential address can certainly be considered private data

You have forgotten that the regulation is about people that advertise goods or services, i.e. are practicing a trade or profession. Their business address, which must be revealed, for the sake of customers or clients, does not necessarily coincide with their residential address. See my original message:

‘As Kelvyn reminded us in the UK some time ago (early 2007), if you advertise trade or profession on the Web, you have to reveal your address’

[iamback]

You have forgotten that the regulation is about people that advertise goods or services, i.e. are practicing a trade or profession.I have not forgotten that, nor have I forgotten that I don't know there even is such a regulation in the Netherlands, which brought up the consideration of privacy in the first place.

Their business address, which must be revealed, for the sake of customers or clients, does not necessarily coincide with their residential address.No, but I was talking about people who work from home, so the address does coincide. And whether that address "must" be revealed on the website here is still an open question.

Actually, I suspect it may be sufficient to mention your Chamber of Commerce registration number - anyone who feels they must have your address can inquire at the Chamber of Commerce.

Which is where I'll be headed some time this week - so I'll ask what the regulations are here at that occasion. Until then it's all speculation.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

Actually, I suspect it may be sufficient to mention your Chamber of Commerce registration number It probably is: in that case, you would have to give your Kamer van Koophandel number on your Web site. I had not heard of the KvK system before; it might be unique in its comprehensiveness, and it does not cover everyone that trades or exercises a profession—it seems curious to exclude partnerships (if it does: the site I visited seemed contradictory about that).