Would it be smart to start entering road races under a fake name to protect your privacy?

you're not that important wrote:

A very real security risk? Has anyone ever had a crime committed against their person or property by a stranger who looked up their info from race results/photos?

Who said anything about strangers? I know more than one runner who races under an alias because they have an ex with stalker tendencies. Candid photos and current city of residence is chum in the water for an angry ex or delusional admirer, especially since runners sometimes do races with friends and/or current partner.

But if you've never been the subject of unwanted sexual attention, then you've probably never considered the "ex factor" and thus think of it only in terms of strangers or identity theft, which I'd agree are extremely low risks.

I don't mind showing up in race results, but I find sites that aggregate meaningless race results like Athlinks to be annoying. Now staking is so much easier.

At least if someone is staking me they will be impressed with a respectable 5k PR that was set on a short (was certified, but set up incorrectly on race day) course.

GeezYouPeople wrote:

you're not that important wrote:

A very real security risk? Has anyone ever had a crime committed against their person or property by a stranger who looked up their info from race results/photos?

Who said anything about strangers? I know more than one runner who races under an alias because they have an ex with stalker tendencies. Candid photos and current city of residence is chum in the water for an angry ex or delusional admirer, especially since runners sometimes do races with friends and/or current partner.

But if you've never been the subject of unwanted sexual attention, then you've probably never considered the "ex factor" and thus think of it only in terms of strangers or identity theft, which I'd agree are extremely low risks.

One of the OP's specific concern is that results allow people to find out your name and google it. I took this to mean that he was concerned about strangers.

Beyond the security risk, I like to keep my personal life private. It's no one's business what raced I run. Cyber-stalking is just too easy anymore. I think using a fake race name is pretty smart these days.

I've used 3 different names in this thread alone.

Randy Wholeway wrote:

Beyond the security risk, I like to keep my personal life private. It's no one's business what raced I run. Cyber-stalking is just too easy anymore. I think using a fake race name is pretty smart these days.

I've used 3 different names in this thread alone.

A public race isn't your private life, it is public life. You have no expectation of privacy going out in public with thousands of other runners and having photographers and people with cell phones.

And it is also the public's interest to know your real name for anti doping and anti cheating.

I knew a guy who always entered races using his nickname because he didn't want a bunch of race results coming up in on line searches when people looked him up for business reasons. I thought at the time that was pretty smart.

Also Suspicious wrote:

Randy Wholeway wrote:

Beyond the security risk, I like to keep my personal life private. It's no one's business what raced I run. Cyber-stalking is just too easy anymore. I think using a fake race name is pretty smart these days.

I've used 3 different names in this thread alone.

A public race isn't your private life, it is public life. You have no expectation of privacy going out in public with thousands of other runners and having photographers and people with cell phones.

And it is also the public's interest to know your real name for anti doping and anti cheating.

I reject all that. What I do in my free time away from work IS my personal life and you have no need to know what I do in it. What races I run is of no concern to you.

One time, I and 5 friends all entered a race with the same name. We all won awards, and laughed our butts off watching the chaos ensue as they tried to sort out the results.

I'd suggest worrying about this kind of thing suggests delusional paranoia or a strong intent to cheat.

Randy Wholeway wrote:

I reject all that. What I do in my free time away from work IS my personal life and you have no need to know what I do in it. What races I run is of no concern to you.

It is of concern to everyone because we are concerned you will cheat or dope. If you don't want people know you are in a race, are you also going to start wearing a paper bag over your head while you run? I'm pretty sure Facebook's face recognition will be able to pick you out.

Also Suspicious wrote:

Randy Wholeway wrote:

I reject all that. What I do in my free time away from work IS my personal life and you have no need to know what I do in it. What races I run is of no concern to you.

It is of concern to everyone because we are concerned you will cheat or dope. If you don't want people know you are in a race, are you also going to start wearing a paper bag over your head while you run? I'm pretty sure Facebook's face recognition will be able to pick you out.

Only a total MORON would be on Facebook. That's just asking the whole world to stalk you.

Don't worry, no doping or cheating here. I'm a total hobby jogger. I am concerned about privacy and identity theft. I have used 4 different names in this thread. In fact, I'm arguing with myself RIGHT NOW!!!

Ladyboy of Bangcok wrote:

You can also race under a different gender to be even harder to find, and you might also get some race wins!

It's called "pulling a Semenya."

Hey everyone, OP here. Guess what? You all got TROLLED!!! I trolled all you fools! LOL!!!

Roger Murdock wrote:

People can find out so much about you from a race picture - see your race number, find your name, google you, get your phone number and address...dangerous stuff with all the weirdos out there.

Hi Mike!

Roger Murdock wrote:

Hey everyone, OP here. Guess what? You all got TROLLED!!! I trolled all you fools! LOL!!!

Not a very good troll, we didn't even get riled up.

5/10

I really don't get it... Why would someone just randomly look you up on the internet? There is no reason... I mean if you run with like a rollex or in some other way really stick out from the crowd then there is a small chance, but if you blend in with the crowd then the chance is basicly 0 that's what I think...

Roger Murdock wrote:

Hey everyone, OP here. Guess what? You all got TROLLED!!! I trolled all you fools! LOL!!!

Smd, good troll, all it lacks is humor cause there is nothing funny and nothing extreme about it, really it was so dry. Still it was a good troll cause you fooled me and it was weird... You could at least have trolled on 1 april.

Roger Murdock wrote:

you're not that important wrote:

This is a hard thing for a narcissist to understand, but no one cares about you enough for it to be even remotely worth their time to use a race photo to track you down.

I know I'm not important, but if being concerned about a very real security risk makes me a narcissist, so be it. Does securing one's social security number and banking information make you a narcissist?

How is a social security number in any way comparable to your name and a photo of you?

joedirt wrote:

Any time you put personal information into a public forum, you are putting yourself at risk. With race information they can get your name, birthdate and make a photo ID. The only information they are missing is your SS number. If they get that they can open an account in your name, etc.

Name and DOB can probably be obtained from many other sources. Besides, a person needs much more than that to obtain a state-issued photo ID. If you're just referring to a homemade photo ID (such as a fake college ID, for example), why would they even need your DOB?