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Got this earlier this morning. Thought I'd share it just in case others were concerned about their personal data:
2016-03-17
Dear Site User,
Fair processing notice - Data Protection Act 1998
We are writing to let you know that with effect from 27 January 2016, the Slashdot Media business, which provides online services through various web sites including Slashdot.org and SourceForge.net (the "Slashdot Media Services") has been purchased by SourceForge Media LLC of 1660 Logan Avenue, San Diego, California, 92113, USA ("we" or "us").
As a result your personal data have been transferred to us and will be used in connection with the continued provision of the Slashdot Media Services to you. Your personal data will continue to be processed fairly and lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 for the same purposes as those it was originally collected by Dice Career Solutions Inc and/or eFinancialCareers Limited including to:
[Continues...]
* continue to provide you with information (by electronic means or otherwise) about other services we offer that are similar to those that you have already received or enquired about;
* carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;
* provide you with the information and services you request from us;
* tell you about changes to the Slashdot Media Services; and
* ensure that the content made available through the Slashdot Media Services is presented in the most effective manner for you and your device.Further information on how your personal data may be processed, who it may be disclosed to and how it will be stored can be found in the Slashdot Media Services privacy policy available at: http://www.slashdotmedia.com/privacy-statement/
You can ask us to remove all your account data, stop processing your personal data and to stop contacting you for marketing purposes at any time.
* For SourceForge.net, please contact us at sfnet_ops@slashdotmedia.com
* For Slashdot, please contact us at privacy@slashdot.org
* For FreeCode, please contact us at freecode-privacy@slashdotmedia.com
* For SlashdotMedia.com, please contact us at sfnet_ops@slashdotmedia.comPlease let us know if you have any queries.
Yours sincerely,
Logan Abbott
The team at SourceForge Media LLC
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday March 19 2016, @06:43AM
Staying anonymous has downsides.
1. No reputation. You can't build up a reputation if you are truly anonymous. Reputations can be bad of course. They can be used against you. Anything about you can be used against you. But on the flip side, a good reputation can be invaluable. It's no good hiding from exploitation and harassment if it also hides you from opportunity.
2. Less visibility. Lot of people ignore anonymous comments, and for good reason as they are more likely to be inane and lame, ranging from outright spam to name calling of the sort one might expect from a 5 year old.
3. More tempting to troll. Lack of anonymity can really help a person think before submitting a post full of things they'd never say in person.
4. Not necessarily safer. With the ability to analyze writing styles, it's hard to really stay anonymous.
I prefer a middle route of using a handle. Anyone who really cared to do so could figure out my real name, could hunt me down. So far, no one has. And why should anyone bother? I'm not important. I don't know any national secrets. I haven't ever won a lottery. I regard a forum like this as like a party in which everyone wears masks that are so feeble at concealing identity you realize there must be some other reason for them. And I think it is pure fiction, so everyone can pretend they are anonymous, even though no one is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 19 2016, @06:59AM
With the ability to analyze writing styles
And the ability to trivially mimic others' writing styles, making this effectively useless.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 19 2016, @11:09AM
Lot of people ignore anonymous comments, and for good reason as they are more likely to be inane and lame, ranging from outright spam to name calling of the sort one might expect from a 5 year old.
Nonsense. All my tweets are done under my real name [twitter.com].
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Monday March 21 2016, @01:11AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyfV9sOhwnc&t=1m9s [youtube.com]
These pussy crumbs are making me itchy.
Maybe I should scratch...
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 19 2016, @01:14PM
On the other hand, having an identity (pseudonymous or not) ties you psychologically and socially to a role where it's easy to form a loop where you write things you are expected to write instead of something that might break the character.
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Sunday March 20 2016, @12:04AM
Ehm... This is SN, not a MMORPG.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 20 2016, @01:20AM
It's not such a bad MMO, actually. I like the freemium model, the pacing, and the way the graphics load quickly even on a low-end video card.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 20 2016, @06:55AM
hah. many things are unofficial mmorpgs without people realising it. eg. if you have ever followed warez scene, it's exactly that. soylent luckily has little bit less of those elements but it doesn't mean it's completely devoid of them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 21 2016, @06:54AM
> Anyone who really cared to do so could [...] So far, no one has.
No. No one has, that you know of. You actually have NO IDEA who knows what about you; you just know that nobody's shown up at your door with a crow bar. You don't know if you've ever accidentally triggered the right codeword bingo to make you, at some point, some TLA's reasonably suspicious suspect, nor what private and nationstate slurpers have slurped, nor to what ends their hoards will be put. And you WILL be monetized.
Handles get tracked as you said. Styles get tracked, as an AC said. Sometimes the only way to win the game is <NO CARRIER>