DEAR RICHARD

The SomethingAwful forums have changed their privacy policy after a third-party IP sharing incident went public. If you are a member, check this thread for more whining.

The old one: “We may share data with the following third parties: NOBODY. These third parties will use the information as follows: NONE.”

And now: “We may share data with the following third parties: WHOEVER WE FEEL LIKE. IF A RANDOM BUM OFF THE STREET WANDERS IN HERE, WE’LL PROBABLY GIVE HIM YOUR IP ADDRESS IN EXCHANGE FOR A HAND JOB. These third parties will use the information as follows: EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL.”

I think it is a good natured response. The naiveté of the general internet populace is excellent. Internet lawyers and conspiracy theorists! Oh My!

I consider myself slightly tinfoil. I lie when asked for phone numbers, zip codes, and so on at retail stores that won’t allow me to complete a transaction by not giving them my information. I am well aware how futile this effort is and how much significantly more damning information about myself than my IP address is traded amongst business partners around the world for the sake of marketing. Every little bit helps. This incident is not a big deal.

About 15 percent of the world population uses this web thing. It’s going to get a lot bigger, convert to ipv6, likely change killer-apps a few times, likely slowly change dominant operating systems and network stacks a few times, and in general get pretty messy. Neat to watch happen.