This is indeed the case. As soon as I realised this I changed my account back, and disabled Ping. I can't believe the two have been linked. There's no way I'm having my full name and location visible. Now if only I could remove it from the sidebar.....
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Apple Announces One Million Ping Users in First Two Days
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This is indeed the case. As soon as I realised this I changed my account back, and disabled Ping. I can't believe the two have been linked. There's no way I'm having my full name and location visible. Now if only I could remove it from the sidebar.....
The location is definitely not linked to your billing information at least. That much I can 100% confirm. Personally I don't care if people know my real name, I keep my personal info very clean on the internet. People can't really find out anything about me based on my name. I know some people feel differently (that might have more unique of a name) and I hope Apple changes the way it works.
Besides, you can always make your profile private, and even make it so it's not even found when doing a search. The flexibility of privacy settings so far is pretty acceptable, except in the case of people who want to allow followers but don't want to give out their real name. Although Facebook does the same thing where they require a first and last name, except it clearly isn't linked to anything important like your iTunes billing information, so you can use a fake name all you want.
But it does pin-point you to a certain location, revealing your city, street and possibly even your zip code. Agree?
So let's assume that some bad person gets your GPS location, revealing your city, street and zip code, and wants to hurt you financially. What else does he need? Your social security number/bank info, right? I guess you have shredder, not?
We here do and thus we do not reveal anything in our paper bin – don't throw away papers with any kind of info on it, because that can easily be used to obtain more info.
Please don't open a can of Facebook worms, because their security and privacy rules suck. Period.
The thing people using Ping might want to do is to setup a new/fake Apple ID. I mean let's not forget that AppleID's are already a target, and adding more info to it might be just that extra bit the crooks are looking for.
That's a whole lot of baloney.
Credit reporting agencies already have every financial detail about you, from current address, to DOB, to previous addresses, employment, info, etc. With simple internet search tools if I can't find you directly, I can probably find your family members, or even call every single last name that's the same as yours in your area and make inquiries about you. Love the White Pages.
Chances are, you're on 411.com. White pages listings.
Anyone can randomly find me and intend to "hurt me financially." Is it easy? Not with today's security tech on debit cards, credit cards, etc. You have a lot more to fear from a pissed-off ex than you do from some random stranger. If you have friends who know your phone number or even casual acquaintances who know your name and in which city you live you're at even greater risk! (But of what, really?)
Any time anyone, from anywhere, sends me regular mail, and the mail is in transit, it's vulnerable. If your mailbox does not have a lock and key anyone can open it.
Can someone get hold of all my passwords, codes, security numbers for my credit products this way? LOL good luck.
Your name and location is already out there. The question is: what can someone do with it that isn't a huge pain in the ass security-wise? Not a whole lot.
I joined but I doubt I can be bothered to use it. I am only really interested in the music I listen to, not what others do. Why should I follow other people's tastes in the hope that I will buy more songs through iTunes?
Pling is silly.
Pling is silly.
Do not agree! Your Ping profile does not reveal anything about your location unless you tell it to. When you create your account it auto-fills the location box with your City and State, it does not give anything else like your street or zip code. Nobody is able to see anything but "City, Some state" by default, and you can change it to say whatever you want. The change of your location does not change your billing information AT ALL.
Again, they do not have access to your GPS location, your city, your street, any of that. None of that information is posted on Ping. If you are talking about a different social networking site, then fine, we can go there, but Ping does none of this!
Fair enough, I won't do that as long as you stop implying that Ping gives away people's locations.
Having your real name in your profile has absolutely nothing to do with your AppleID. The only way it makes it easier is if you are some idiot who has your iTunes store account associated with an email address like Real.Name@gmail.com instead of a more private account with a password that is secure. You are right that there are a ton of idiots out there that know nothing about security, but guess what, those people are already screwed anyway!
Again, I will say that I agree with people wanting more privacy, and I hope Apple addresses that. But Ping is an opt-in service and it even has the ability to choose your privacy setting so that nobody can find you on the service, which still gives you the ability to use the service to follow people, but prevents others from ever seeing your profile or even finding your name in a search.
The whole cheerleading for how awful Ping's security is simply insults the level of intelligence that people should have when using the internet.
Can someone at MR please fix the Swedish fish banner at the bottom of this page? These guys are paying pretty krona for this and they deserve to have their fish seen, not just a poor HTML code rendition of the said fish.
A lot of people have themselves delisted from the white pages. Anyone can do it and I think it's only a one time fee (if any, in some states).
There is plenty you can do to protect your personal information and yet still give out your real name. People who are popular on the internet do it all the time. If you use your real name, it's not that hard to protect the other information if you are smart.
The problem is the people who are stupid, and honestly those people won't be smart enough to protect themselves from any security threat, let alone the harmless crap that is associated with your account on Ping.
The single most effective way to protect yourself is to keep your wallet/purse safe - don't lose your physical ID and credit/debit cards, and keep your passwords/security codes in a secure place (like in your head) and keep same passwords and security codes as strong as possible.
Provided you've got all this under control, there is really no significant threat from putting your name and location out there. What people can do with it is extremely limited. Unless of course, your line of work, or what you did to someone in the past necessitates that you attempt to keep even this sort of info a secret (not easy.)
Provided you've got all this under control, there is really no significant threat from putting your name and location out there. What people can do with it is extremely limited. Unless of course, your line of work, or what you did to someone in the past necessitates that you attempt to keep even this sort of info a secret (not easy.)
Im embracing the fact that Apple is trying to start something out of the norm. once again. A music social network into one of the most popular music programs to date. I joined as soon as I upgraded, not because its something new, but because I see the endless possibilities with this new feature. Its just like the iPhone. I saw endless possibilities that they could do with it, and it just keeps getting better and better.... I will rather be on the train early than to try and jump on the train later on.....
I registered for Ping. I have NO interest or knowledge of any of the artists that it says I should follow. For that matter I don't even know the suggested people that it says I should follow. So you can take me off the one million name list.
Wait, a Facebook, MySpace, Classmates, etc... clone is "out of the norm" ?
This is very much Apple being sheep on the whole "social network" movement. This ain't no Apple being trendsetters.
But do credit reporting agencies or 411.com know my musical taste? I don't think so.
I was doing some social networking at my local music store the other day.
In the end I purchased a used CD, checked out a rerelease of an album on vinyl I'll purchase next time I visit, and I met some people while discussing some music that was new to me.
I think the music networking doesn't need to be all on-line. Ping will be useful for sure, but the on-line experience will always pale compared to getting out of the house and going to the store. (Except around Yule when its preferable to stay home and avoid the gridlock).
In the end I purchased a used CD, checked out a rerelease of an album on vinyl I'll purchase next time I visit, and I met some people while discussing some music that was new to me.
I think the music networking doesn't need to be all on-line. Ping will be useful for sure, but the on-line experience will always pale compared to getting out of the house and going to the store. (Except around Yule when its preferable to stay home and avoid the gridlock).
I think this is the problem. Apple didn't intend Ping to be a social network; they intended it to be a tool to discover new music. Social interaction is just a means to achieve that result.
Ping is more like Pandora than Facebook, in that they both share the same ultimate goal (music discovery). The difference, of course, is the means: Pandora introduces you directly to new music, whereas Ping lets friends introduce you to new music.
I'll be honest, though, I'm more a fan of the Pandora approach myself.
Yes, that's a bit different, since most people on MR don't post about their daily lives. Most manage to stick to the topic, and some even provide useful or insightful posts.But you signed up for MacRumors.
So what are you saying? I assume you're just being funny, right?
Is this a big problem?
"manu chao" (let's call you Phil Jones from New Jersey) . . . likes Ska.
OMG!!!! NO WAY!!!
Is your musical taste really that confidential? No one actually cares, and I'm sure it's all the same to everyone no matter what your musical tastes. It might be somewhat interesting in terms of perhaps dating or meeting others online with the same (or radically different) tastes, but I doubt it has any effect on your income-earning potential. I doubt your boss cares whether you like Rammstein or Miley Cyrus.
Here, let me try:
My name is Christian Szabo
I live in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
I like some Classical - Schubert, Beethoven, etc. I have a thing for metal, Powerman 5000, Iron Maiden, and I enjoy collecting movie soundtracks: Kill Bill, Crimson Tide, The Others, etc.
Now that information is not too useful outside the realm of "entertainment purposes." You can't get into my bank account, you haven't gained access to my debit card PIN, you haven't laid your hands on my Social Insurance/Security number with it.
I'm on Facebook. No drunk pictures, though. Nothing compromising posted on there. All my friends have more or less clean profiles, etc. If you want to find me on the net, you probably can. So what. At most, you'll find me connected to the University of Toronto in some way, maybe with a discussion group about tech or something but I doubt I even go that far. I know I'm in the local paper regarding a community BBQ that took place in July. That might be online, too.
You've got a name, a town, and my musical tastes. You might find me in the local White Pages. Feel free to call and say hi. If it lists my address, you can drop by. I have a front door and there's a number on it. It's accessible to anyone. To get inside, however, you'll need my key and I get to decide who I let in.
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By the way . . .
http://news.cnet.com/Apples-iPod-spurs-mixed-reactions/2100-1040_3-274821.html
Mixed reactions. LOL.
EDIT:
Just noticed that on Neowin, staff reporters post their full names and some personal details:
http://www.neowin.net/profile/brandon_boyce
So there you go.
I have to say I'm turned off by the fact that I can't use a pseudonym. As far as I can tell I'm one of 2 people on the internet these days with my first and last name (aside from some references to a distant relative of mine who lived in France in the 1800s). If someone googles my name almost every result is actually about me. As a result I try to keep guard my name a little bit. It's just too easy for someone to mess with you these days.
Someone malicious with you full name and address can get information off of Facebook or ping, send you targetted scams (free tickets to this band we know you like, just pay the deposit!) or really mess with you by, say, posting on craigslist that everything in your house must go.
Someone malicious with you full name and address can get information off of Facebook or ping, send you targetted scams (free tickets to this band we know you like, just pay the deposit!) or really mess with you by, say, posting on craigslist that everything in your house must go.
So can a pissed-off ex. So can anyone who has access to the phonebook. So can any website that sold off your junk e-mail address.
So what.
I agree. Pseudonyms should be allowed. Some people have given up and just say "so what". But some of us do care.
All it takes is a little information here and there to build a psychological profile for marketing purposes. The reason to fight against this sort of thing is that over time, as certain practices become acceptable, they get abused. Will these profiles be used for more than marketing 10 years from now? Who knows.
One thing that can be done is to make fake versions of yourself. Turn yourself into an expectant mother on-line on one site and an ex-con on another. Make the entire body of work so ridiculous that anyone viewing it (potential employers for example) know it can't be used to evaluate you.
btw - lifelock offers a service now where you are notified if your on-line profile turns negative.
yeah.. at first the membership of a new social network is probably 98% hackers, flackers, spies (corporate and the regular kind) and common predators. Eventually the sheep do show up, plenty of sheep, apparently, or else the whole social network thing would have died already. So what's not to like if you run an intelligence shop and some outfit like Apple offers yet another bazaar in which to park your unobtrusive little traffic-minding stall.
But for most of the sheep, it's not the political spy-shops to worry about, it's the damn marketers.
You're not that important for an intelligence shop to care about.
The FBI, CIA, CSIS, SAS, etc. are more than welcome to keep tabs on me. It'll be a rather uneventful surveillance, however.
Marketers are free to tailor their ads to me. Ok. Again, so what.
I have been lucky enough to have had two websites shut down by the feds, and I doubt they would care about my "evil" taste in music. Still, there are limits for what I bother to share with the World. If my playlists become visible to the World, including "Recently Played" with all its track information so that the World can find out what I like to listen to at specific times of the day or the week, I truly see that as an invasion of my privacy. It's naive to believe that such possibilities won't be exploited to the user's disadvantage. There's a nearly 3 GB large file out there with facebook information about 100 million users.
After all, I do have the right to remain silent about my music preferences - and this is not the time to waive that right in favour of Ping.