I do understand your point of view, but I find it kinda ironic how HN doesn't allow us to delete our old comments that could contain private information. Does that mean they subscribe to the philosophy of 'as long as it's posted on a public medium, its public information'?

> given enough time and effort some people could probably find your mother's address publicly available and post it here

That actually reminds me - is there a good way of scrubbing that sort of data off the web? Googling around for me will eventually lead you to where I grew up, and where my parents still live. While it tends to keep me ... a bit more polite than I might normally be, it also means that one person with a grudge could start mailing my parents glitter, poorly-packed ant farms, or worse.