When it comes to privacy, people’s preferences vary widely. Some people go out of their way to get their names and photos in the press and on the web at every opportunity. Others don’t want to be findable on the web at all, thanks very much. I think it’s only fair to respect people’s personal preferences in these matters.

I will respect your choices regarding privacy. I ask that you respect my privacy choices, too.

On Gabriolan.ca, I respect privacy in these ways:

I don’t identify private people without their consent.

If I do want to mention somebody by name on my blog, I check first to see if that person seems to prefer privacy or publicity.

People who prefer publicity are usually already on the web, so a web search for their names usually gives many results. If a search for your name shows that you use your name on your website and again and again all over the web, I assume that you are happy having your name on the web. (Otherwise you wouldn’t have put your name all over the place, would you?) If you’ve allowed a newspaper to include your name as part of an article that appears on the web, I assume you’re fine with that, and may quote part of that article.

Other people are far more private. My neighbour’s name doesn’t appear on the web anywhere. If I should feel like mentioning her on my blog, I won’t use her name (or nickname, or initials) unless I ask her first, and get her permission.

I don’t post personal details about people without their consent.

If I mention Joe Blow on my blog, I won’t mention the street on which he lives, who his relatives are, or where he works. If I want to use any details about him that might help somebody identify him, I’ll ask first, and make sure everything I plan to post is fine with him.

I don’t post photos of people without their consent.

I don’t publish photographs of people without their permission, because doing so is off-the-scale rude.

Exception: if you’re in a photo but not identifiable (face doesn’t show, silhouette, etc), I figure that’s ok, because nobody will know it’s you, anyway.

Exception: If you have made photos of yourself available on your website specifically so that other people can use those photos to promote you, I figure it’s ok to use one of those photos. If a photo of you appears on Wikimedia Commons, I figure that it wouldn’t be there if you hadn’t put it there yourself or given permission for it to appear there. Wikimedia Commons’ photos are free for anybody to use, so I’ll conclude that it’s ok to use a photo I find there.

Exception: if you’re stalking or threatening me (or doing something incredibly evil) and a photo will help identify you, then all bets are off. I can’t imagine this happening.

And other things

If in doubt, I’ll ask first. If in doubt, I’ll err on the side of privacy, giving you as much privacy as possible.

My privacy choices

I choose anonymity on the web, and I ask that you respect that. I don’t put my name on the web anywhere. I also don’t put my name in newspapers or other print publications. My phone number is unlisted.

Please respect my wish to maintain this level of privacy.

(This doesn’t mean that I’m unfriendly, by the way. I enjoy your email, and have had fun meeting some of this site’s readers.)

If you’ve got questions or comments about this page, please drop me a note.