Administrator

If there is personal information that you would not reveal to a stranger on the street, be careful to not post it on the internet.

People publish an amazing amount of information about themselves on the Boards and all over the internet. Just by reading a few posts anyone can know the member's real name, a child's name, the city and state where they live. Without going outside of HealthBoards anyone can know a great deal about a member and his/her family, and with a little digging into public information one could find out who they are and exactly where they live.

As soon as a baby is born the proud parents post the child's name and weight. With little effort, many of these children can be tracked down in the flesh, because the proud parents have also said "hey! what a coincidence -- I live in the next town over from you". With the name of a town, the birthdate and child's name, anyone could easily look at at the birth announcements in the local newspaper and get the parent's names and then track down their address.

This should cause you enough concern to stop posting personal information that puts you and/or your family at risk.