So a poster is upset with me ( as usual), presumably this is because I called out another poster for a bald faced lie regarding his past publicly held position, which in the process revealed his identity. Based on private conversations, and subtle hints dropped by many posters, this was news to almost no one.
I respect my fellow poster's right to anonymity if they so choose. Most of us are nobodies, and revealing our identities would mean nothing to anyone. Except, I don't feel that that right extends to public figures. In this case, the poster is a former( and very public) CWB director getting paid out of farmers hard earned income, and against their will, is a current member and public spokesperson of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, is a vocal member of the NFU, with his name appearing in many of their press releases, Is a regular writer of letters to the editor, and is often quoted by the media, all using his real identity.
With such a public profile, this poster is evidently not ashamed of his views, or afraid of public attention. During his time as an anonymous poster, he held a paid position, and ran for office within the CWB. The law is still somewhat unclear on these issues, but I think it is universally accepted that public figures such as politicians, by putting themselves into the public spotlight, and accepting compensation for it, have a lower expectation of privacy. Masquerading under an assumed identity, while campaigning for their own self interests, is at best unethical. Then outright lying about his past positions when called on it, certainly does not earn trust or credibility in the public sphere.
What is your opinion on this? Does a posters public life have no affect on his/her right to privacy? Do any of us have any right to, or expectation of privacy? If I run for public office someday, and someone connects the dots and drags up every out of context post I've ever made, should I have any recourse?
I personally have no problem if any of you know who I am, but in the era of identity theft, I still do not want that information publicly available too easily. I am not ashamed of anything I write, and I often delete or erase a post before posting when I consider who might read it, how it might be construed, and what effect it could have on future endeavors if it were made public. Once we put anything onto the WWW, it is there forever, for all to find. A good policy is probably to send every public post you make to your mother, children, preacher, teacher etc. we would probably all be a lot more considerate and polite.
I respect my fellow poster's right to anonymity if they so choose. Most of us are nobodies, and revealing our identities would mean nothing to anyone. Except, I don't feel that that right extends to public figures. In this case, the poster is a former( and very public) CWB director getting paid out of farmers hard earned income, and against their will, is a current member and public spokesperson of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, is a vocal member of the NFU, with his name appearing in many of their press releases, Is a regular writer of letters to the editor, and is often quoted by the media, all using his real identity.
With such a public profile, this poster is evidently not ashamed of his views, or afraid of public attention. During his time as an anonymous poster, he held a paid position, and ran for office within the CWB. The law is still somewhat unclear on these issues, but I think it is universally accepted that public figures such as politicians, by putting themselves into the public spotlight, and accepting compensation for it, have a lower expectation of privacy. Masquerading under an assumed identity, while campaigning for their own self interests, is at best unethical. Then outright lying about his past positions when called on it, certainly does not earn trust or credibility in the public sphere.
Courts have recognized that public figures (politicians and movie stars, for example) have a lesser expectation of privacy than ordinary citizens, but there is no analogous right to anonymity per se: As a citizen you have some limited expectation and rights to privacy (except in public places, public records and so on), but there is no legal or social right to be anonymous.
I personally have no problem if any of you know who I am, but in the era of identity theft, I still do not want that information publicly available too easily. I am not ashamed of anything I write, and I often delete or erase a post before posting when I consider who might read it, how it might be construed, and what effect it could have on future endeavors if it were made public. Once we put anything onto the WWW, it is there forever, for all to find. A good policy is probably to send every public post you make to your mother, children, preacher, teacher etc. we would probably all be a lot more considerate and polite.
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