The Waiting Game: Careful what you post

Recently, a member that goes by the name smyleegrl, posted a thread which included a questionnaire.

Link to thread www.abovetopsecret.com...

In all respects to smyleegrl, this could be a thread of genuine interest.

Usually things like this can be of concern as members are revealing elements of their true identity.

There’s something about this that makes me think that this questionnaire is targeting individuals susceptible to brainwashing.

The questions that were posed seemed to indicate the age, location, and most importantly, weather they believed in the supernatural.

1. Meyer's Briggs Personality Type (take test here)

2. Astrological sign

3. Blood type

4. Highest level of Education

5. Are you a lucid dreamer?

6. Any psychic experiences?

7. Any paranormal experiences?

8. Religious affiliation/ spiritual beliefs?

9. Have you started any recent hobbies?

10. Birth Country and Current Country of Residence

The questions posed could interpret personal information of members.

1.

2. Month of birth

3. Additional information

4. Average age

5. Do you believe in the supernatural. (confirms that member may be susceptible)

6. Do you believe in the supernatural. (confirms that member may be susceptible)

7. Do you believe in the supernatural. (reaffirms that member may be susceptible)

8. Do you believe in the supernatural. (again reaffirms that member may be susceptible)

9. Describe your state of mind

10. Where do you born and where do you live?



Again, I might just be reading way too much into things but please be careful of what information you reveal on the internet.

You make a good point, I myself was suprized at how many members responded with their personal info. S&F

Anyone who gives up that type of personal info on the net is asking for trouble down the line IMO.

Anyone giving up that type of info on ATS should just spanked, scolded and spanked again...

Peace

That's the kind of questionaire i make my daughters boyfriends take i wont tell you what my poor son's girlfriends have to go through!!

Yep it does seem a bit suss maybe it's something she has to do as a college paper and couldnt be bothered standing on street corners to ask folk.

Granny Mo

Originally posted by toocoolnc

There’s something about this that makes me think that this questionnaire is targeting individuals susceptible to brainwashing.

What do you mean by this?

reply to post by jude11
I tried the quiz just for fun. Are you offering up free spankings? Inquiring minds want to know!

Can I ask how that is that personal?

No name is given, no age, no gender, no other personal info is really asked for...Except for country of residence and origin...

May be I'm just blind to it...But I don't really see an issue.

It's not likes shes asking for our driver's license or SSN number...

-SAP-

Each astrological sign has 2 possible months, country of birth - millions in most countries, and the paranormal/supernatural/psychic experiences don't always make a person susceptible to brainwashing.

Education level also doesn't say how long ago they were in school/college.

I would be careful about putting too much more info out there though, but I'm not really much into being spanked either

I personally don't think that thread was designed to phish for info, but was mainly like the vast majority of threads on ATS these days, geared towards flags and stars. The flag and star system has degraded the overall experience of ATS massively, in my opinion.

I read a lot of smylees first thread and found most of it engaging. Due to what she describes as unexpected popularity, she says she decided to continue her research. I believe her.

That said,I think you are correct in your assessment of her second threads potentials.

The few responses I read from the second thread displayed to me a number members eager to share various degrees of their inner selves. I find this normal. Don't we all want to share the best of ourselves with like minded people with similarly attuned spiritual paths? With the near lack of trolling on the original thread, most of the
the replies were happy and glad to have found such a thread popping up in their midst,
I believe it to have been a spontaneous and synchronous experience.

I wish those well who are engaging in the transfer of so much information on that second thread, but it is not for me. The experience of the first thread I think to be unrepeatable through the construction of a "sequel". To me, this is the way things go. Spontaneity like this stimulates, while organizing it most often turns it to the path of the mundane.

Then of course there are all the reasons you mentioned to stand clear of centralizing information in this manner.

Originally posted by SloAnPainful
Can I ask how that is that personal?

No name is given, no age, no gender, no other personal info is really asked for...Except for country of residence and origin...

May be I'm just blind to it...But I don't really see an issue.

It's not likes shes asking for our driver's license or SSN number

I live in a small country and it wouldnt take me long finding out who you where with that info!!

lol sorry folks messed that up abit

I repeat im a granny and need my granddaughters help at these things

Im not concerned.That was a very general questionnaire.We were'nt asked for our street addresses or full names.Any one of the abc agencies know everything about me by this time,and propably from personal emails wayyy more than from anything ive posted on this site.Thats if they're That much interested in me as a "person of interest" which i doubt.You cannot live your life in fear,too afraid to open up,at least to some degree,to some individuals.Then you start living as a terrified hermit-then you may as well be dead.Because then they've frightened you into silence and isolation,they've stolen your life and They Won-and you Let them.

Im not concerned.That was a very general questionnaire.We were'nt asked for our street addresses or full names.Any one of the abc agencies know everything about me by this time,and propably from personal emails wayyy more than from anything ive posted on this site.Thats if they're That much interested in me as a "person of interest" which i doubt.You cannot live your life in fear,too afraid to open up,at least to some degree,to some individuals.Then you start living as a terrified hermit-then you may as well be dead.Because then they've frightened you into silence and isolation,they've stolen your life and They Won-and you Let them.

reply to post by ballymoney50


Yeah but I don't live in a small country...

I bet there are thousands of people with that same info I have...

Did I miss your point? 'cause I don't see a point. Not to sound like a a-hole but I just don't see the issue. Someone please inform me what the issue is...

-SAP-

Maybe I'm getting to old but i wouldnt trust a banker with my last £ so i'll just pass on this and head to bed with my horlicks

I really wouldn't worry about it - it’s all in good fun.

If the government really takes an interest in you by what you post on ATS - they certainly don't need your Myers Briggs and Zodiac sign to find you.

It’s relatively easy to determine for them.

They simply don't have the assets to act on decent only credible threats, recruitment and other overt actions that advocate sedition (active violent type).

If you are that worried you need to sever your internet activity altogether and go off grid completely.

reply to post by toocoolnc


Believe it or not, I'm actually a huge privacy person. I actually make a point of searching and eliminating unauthorized information about me on a regular basis for personal safety reasons. Hazard of having had a rough life. I'm also an avid blogger on privacy issues as I recognize those to be, aside from being very personally important to me, a right that isn't a right really. Madison missed privacy when he wrote the Bill of Rights and any rights to privacy are found through other amendments. That's why we have privacy issues.

That said, I pondered the questions that were being asked and found no reason to be concerned that someone would be able to identify me from the billions of other people living on this planet based on those bits of information. Sure, it asks for my astrological sign but that only narrows down my actual month of birth to two months--not even one. Zodiac signs don't follow the months--they begin around the 20th of one month and run til the 20th of the next. Country of birth/residence--well, that just says what country I'm from. It's not asking me what city/state I live in or where in particular I was born. Blood type--everybody has one. Level of education doesn't equate to age. My grandmother is nearly 90 and her highest level of education is high school. 5-8 offer no personally identifying information still and 9 is a yes/no question that still doesn't tell anybody who I am.

If you want to be concerned about your privacy, then comprehend that google tracks everything you do through them. Cookies track your activities as you go from site to site. This stuff is big money to marketers that want to better understand you so they can figure out how to appeal to you and your interests. And really, at the end of the day, unless you're using a really good proxy, any entity that would be interested in who you are could probably either demand that information via a warrant or buy it. I'm more paranoid about that than anybody knowing that I'm an INTJ Leo living in the US with a couple degrees and O neg blood.

INTJ--nothing unless it was done by a shrink. Leo narrows it down to two months of the year. Couple degrees--I'm very likely over the age of 21. US resident. O neg blood is the most potentially identifying as it's rare--6.6% incidence. That means I'm one of 220.9 million US residents over the age of 21. 6.6% incidence means I'm one of 14.6 million. Times that by 1/6 (two months out of 12 in a year) and that narrows me down to 2,420,825 people.

Not worried. Even when you count the fact that I'm female and shave it in half.

reply to post by Golf66


Like your response, you seem to have some credibility there. Plus, the real Myers Briggs test is close 500-800 questions long, and its a standardized test.

reply to post by jude11

Originally posted by jude11
Anyone giving up that type of info on ATS should just spanked, scolded and spanked again...

Are free spankings being offered for answering smyleegrl's questionnaire?!

I love a good scolding!

In all seriousness, though...she posted that thread in conjunction to another thread that she posted about a general sense of feeling like something was impending and asked if anyone else got the feeling that "something" was "coming" too. When she got a ridiculously high volume of responses (the amjority of them positive), she made up a a short questionnaire and offered it to the people who responded positively to her original thread to get an idea of what things they might all have in common. Anyway, the questions she asked weren't really all that personal...and anyone who would feel paranoid about putting the type of information asked about in the questionnaire out on the Internet is just a touch too paranoid for my taste.

It's as simple as that. No brainwashing...just curiosity.

Now, about those scoldings and spankings...