HabitCal public?

paulawylma · Post by **paulawylma** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:04 pm

I thought our habiCal was supposed to be private unless we selected to make it public. After watching an episode of Law and Order dealing with internet tracking of chatroom postings, I googled my username "paulawylma" because I use it for just about all my internet activities. Not only was I surprised at all the stuff that popped up, but I was shocked to see my HabitCal listed on the first page. By clicking on the link, I was able to see my habitCal without signing in or anything which means that anyone who googles my user name can see my HabitCal. I am not comfortable with this. Does anyone know if my habitcal can truly be made private or will I have to delete it? Also will deleting it make it go away or is everything on the internet permanent?

sharkchick · Post by **sharkchick** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:37 am

No, it's not private but that's why I use nicknames online instead of my real name. Maybe try that? Also, if you delete something on a message board, people will no longer be able to see it, unless they're spying on you and saving everything you've said. In which case, I'd really worry about what they consider entertainment.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:16 am

On the HabitCal page (not the edit one, the one that comes up when you click the link in the header), it says this:

Besides your personal edit view, there is also a public view that you can share with friends and random people on the internet (NOTE: nothing here is private -- see disclaimer below). Just click "switch to public view" on the top of your edit page to see what this looks like.
...
Dislaimers/Terms of Use

#1: please do not post anything that could get you divorced/fired here. This is the web. It's public. You have to assume that your boss, your wife, googlebot and the FBI are all looking at it. If you want to track potentially embarrassing habits here, (nothing obviously illegal, please) come up with a good pseudonym.

Post by **reinhard** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:37 pm

Yeah, I intentionally made everything public because:

1) It's easier to code. I barely have time to code and maintain it as is. And I'd much rather spend what little extra time I can carve out on adding new features (like an ipod/android app, which I'm looking into now -- just got an ipod touch) than diddling with access issues.

2) I don't want people getting outraged if through some goof on my part or security breach the data they assumed was private suddenly gets out. I'll look into making the notice Aleria pasted from the habitcal home page more prominent so people are less likely to miss it and be surprised anyway.

3) I like the idea of this stuff being public. Other people can be inspired by what you've done (or learn from your mistakes). Plus it's motivating to think that other people could conceivably be following your progress. It makes you feel more accountable. If that makes you feel weird, then use a good pseudonym and no one will have any idea it's you.

Reinhard