[avgcorrection]

A more suggestive name like “private-ignore” would help.

[CableNinja]

While I always hate the cluttering of "top" directories, id think something more like `.gitignore.local` at the top level would be much better than where its hidden

[avgcorrection]

Yeah absolutely. When it is buried inside the repository itself most people won't find out about it, even with a good name.