Photo recognised by stranger.

Surely this is the week when all Facebook users realise they need to be careful about what details they reveal

I'm not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or any other social media except here and Whatsapp.
My children and GC email their photos to me and we text or mssg via WA. My photo there changes from outdoor scenes to flowers or pretty household items.
Some people might as well hand their door key over to the public.

I love Facebook but have a flower photo as my profile and don’t use my surname, don’t use my date of birth and never put anything on it that I wouldn’t be happy having in a newspaper. All my privacy barriers are up, but doubtless a skilled computer person could work through the barriers.

Unfortunately, as a Trustee of a very small charity I discovered that ALL my details are freely available from Companies House to anyone who can use Google!

?

I use a different name & picture on TA than I do on FB and they aren't connected

Not sure why this is scary, isn't this one of the fun aspects of technology? I still think I am more likely to be killed by some random mugger on the way home from the shops than I am by someone who happens to know my name and photo from an online post.

I control exactly what can be seen about me on face book. I also don't click on any links on Facebook. I regularily go into settings and remove any links that have crept in.
I find it a excellent site for communicating with my far flung family and I do not accept anyone as friends.
You can regularily google FB safety as well and there are geeks on there constantly giving you tips on being safe.
I have no details of my DOB or my work, location or telephone number.

Exact reason I don’t do or like Facebook.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for people who put anything personal on social media and then go on to complain about other people around the world seeing and reading it. If you don't want the whole village to know your business, then don't tell the local gossip!!!

NINATHENANA my young daughter and I appeared in a Thomsons brochure, in the hotel swimming pool. Didn't know photo was being taken, let alone asked for permission to publish!

I have one of the photos available to choose from on Trip Advisor. A beach photo. If I give a bad review, which I sometimes do, I want to be anonymous! I’ve given lots of reviews for various restaurants and more than one review of the same restaurant, especially if it’s gone from good to bad. Not sure why people would put their own photo on there. Mine is not linked to Facebook. I would have been freaked out too if someone had approached me like that.

Your cautionary tale has made me think again... a salutary lesson ... I'll go through all my login stuff now and delete any photos and sign in anonymously... pictures of the dogs will do ....

I don't do face book or twitter .My GN name is nothing like my real name It was taken from a novel I was reading. I reluctantly give my email address. I do not have a smart phone. Still use my old mobile I bought years ago.

This is actually the only website where I don't use my real name, and the only reason for that is it's the only site where sometimes I voice thoughts about a family member that I wouldn't want to get back to them. Everywhere else I use I only say things I would be happy to say or show publicly.

Gabriella, Facebook owns whatsapp.?

You do realise this forum isn't private. I discovered it by googling some random question and up came this amazing site! Your strange TA experience would have freaked me too. I'm not used to being recognised.

Hi, my 3 year old grandson recognised you and drew me an identical pic of you

Don't use your FB account to sign into other sites and set you privacy settings high! However I think we are all being a bit naïve if we think that these social media sites are the only means by which personal information about us can be gathered.
As for that lady, possibly 'strange' more likely just lonely.

BTW my FB profile pic is of me - the fantasy Snapchat version. Must be a shock meeting me for real, for folk who don't know me well!

I've seen this subject come up here before and I'm afraid to say I think people are far too paranoid about it. I use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. and mostly register with my real name. I post pictures of myself, usually with celebs that I meet at conventions. I also enter many online competitions where I have to fill in my name, email address, postal address, date of birth and phone number. So what's the worst thing that can happen if a stranger knows my birthday - they send me a birthday card? Obviously it's not a good idea to post details of when you're away from home etc. but most of these other things can be obtained from phone books, electoral registers etc. What harm can it do as long as you don't post financial information etc.

Telly, don't assume that your dog's picture will protect your identity! James Herriot was once out walking when a stranger approached him, calling him by name. He said, "I suppose you recognised my picture from one of my books?" "No," said the man. "I recognised your dogs from their picture in your book."

Nanawind - why did you put photo on the site if you didn't want to be recognised. I'm sorry but I think it was your own fault.

I was one of the unfortunate 50 billion who got their data "gathered" by one of the online agencies and it has not been good. I was on Facebook with highest security but one of my friends or friend of a friend were "accessed" by filling in a questionnaire and that allowed access to their friends. They sought people with certain interests to target with their political campaigning. Thousands of us left Facebook two years ago when we were targeted with adverts (which to me were obviously lies and meant to cause hatred). Some people reposted them which resulted in a lot of lies being spread. I had two death threats from complete strangers so I decided FB was no longer for me. The messages related to political campaigns in Britain so they knew exactly what they were doing. However until recently I kept receiving emails from Donald Trump Junior, about 2-3 a week. It was impossible to unsubscribe but has gone finally this week. Many complained of the same. We had no idea we were part of the (at least) 50 billions accounts illegally gathered.

Imagine how difficult it will continue to be for youngsters. You almost have to be paranoid to stay safe. As i understand it, employers wonder why not what is being hidden if they can't find prospective employers online so how are youngsters cope with privacy when everything is increasingly online and half of it out of your hands if anyone shares any of it inspite of your own privacy settings.

I hate hate hate Facebook, I know it has good points, but I know people that have had, and caused lots of trouble on it, it's far too public

I don't think the woman's behaviour was weird. Its not something I would personally do, but she was probably holding on to the photos to alleviate being bored or lonely, and identifying one of her photo's probably made her day.
I registered with Facebook years ago, but mindful of internet security, or lack of it, I didn't use my correct date of birth.
Only snag with that was that when I next went to log in I couldn't remember what date I used!
I contacted Facebook to explain my problem and to prove who I was they instructed me to furnish them with a copy of my Passport AND a copy of my Driving Licence.
I kid you not.

Just be very careful with any social media. Have privacy settings high, don't sign in with FaceBook etc and don't put a profile with any pictures on Gransnet. Realise that any threads in here can end up on Facebook or Twitter. Keep your photo off places like TripAdvisor.