Heh, I see people like you pop up every time there's a discussion about privacy online. My guess is you work for the US government or a contractor, the messaging is always the same: "Don't bother trying for more privacy."
But it's a lame, weak gambit. If the collective you weren't terrified of privacy you wouldn't try this every time there's a discussion about privacy online.
Where I work is not hard to find from my posting history on HN and under my same user name on Reddit.
It’s a company I know you have heard of
Where’s the lie in my statement? Do you fly? Use credit cards? Use a cell phone? Have a bank account? Ever applied for credit? Go to a doctor?
I’ve worked with both payment processors and integrated with EMR/EHR systems. I’m well aware of the information captured. No one cares about your Reddit history.
This seems like a stretch, right? It could be in someone's *major* financial interest to care. For instance, imagine if someone takes out a life insurance policy and a year later, they tragically pass away. If the person posted on Reddit that they did certain illegal or quasi-legal substances, and the insurance company wants to see if they can avoid paying, wouldn't they perform a cursory Internet search to see if they can make a case that you "obtained your policy through fraud"? (i.e. if you didn't disclose in your application that you use those drugs -- which if you did they would have declined you). Or for instance, if a death was ambiguous and could be argued to be a suicide, and the person posted online that they were depressed. Suicide in many situations forfeits life insurance.
I'm picking life insurance as examples, but this is just one reason why it's probably wise to have almost zero public communication about yourself that's able to be tied in any way to your real identity.
And note: I'm not disagreeing at all with your main statement, that unless one is living the real hermit life, "the government," if motivated enough, already can access so much information about you that this kind of stuff is small potatoes.
> they did certain illegal or quasi-legal substances, and the insurance company wants to see if they can avoid paying, wouldn't they perform a cursory Internet search to see if they can make a case that you "obtained your policy through fraud"?
I posted in another reply that my earliest postings on the internet that you can still find are from my Usenet postings in 1994 - when I was 20.
I’ve always been mindful of what got put in permanent form.
Today it’s harder because everyone has a video camera in their pocket and can disseminate the video worldwide. I’m very aware of that.
The life insurance company could already go through your health care records and it would be much more definitive.
The problem with dominating the info-battlespace with scripted replies is it becomes so obvious over time. I suppose that's the idea, the chilling effect is part of the plan.