User names

[strider]

How confidential are user names supposed to be?

The reason I ask is that I happened to bump into one of the leading people in British motorsport today and he had made it his business to find out my true identity because he objects strongly to some of my posts.

I'm not particularly bothered, because I shall continue to speak as I find, but I did resent his accusation that I was in some way being cowardly by hiding behind a user name. Is that not one of the fundamental ideas of the forum, if you wish to take it, and how would he have got to know my true identity?

[EvilPumpkin]

That's a question that you would need to ask him. In general, people deduce identities based on what people post and who they talk to. This can particularly be the case when people present as having insider knowledge that others do not have.

In your case specifically, I would say that it's general knowledge amongst certain people in your own posting group who you are, so I would imagine this person simply asked around until someone told him.

I'm presuming that you're not suggesting that this site has given out your personal information or has been hacked, as if that was the case, you would have come to us directly as a matter of urgency, rather than posting it in the public announcements forum. Wouldn't you.

However, just to answer any unspoken allegations - this site does not give out personal details of users and we have not been hacked.

In terms of keeping your identity anonymous, I would refer you to our recommendations on Internet privacy in the FAQ.

If you have any further queries, you can contact the site admin team.