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If you're really concerned, the solution is simple. Don't tell your friends the same name that you tell the government. If a bunch of people tag you as "John Smith" on Facebook, and "Bill Smitthers" is the person that is behind on his back taxes, face recognition with data bought from Facebook is not going to find you.

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Why'd you assume that the government was his (only) concern?

s/government/whatever/g;

When you register at school, you're required to use your real name. It will always come up, one way or another.

So?

BTW - In the US, there's no law mandating a unique "real name".

True—your name is whatever you get people to call you, legally, at least in some states—but the very important caveat is that if you change your name or use an alias for purposes of fraud, either to defraud someone else or to defraud the gov't, that's still illegal. So for instance, it's perfectly legal for me to write my name as "Don" even though my SS card says "Donald", but then, I'm writing my actual SS# on my taxes (and paying them!), so there's no fraud.

Replying late. In Italy, or Albania, your name is registered after your gov documents. You can use a "mouth" different name with your friends, but since the register of the class is open and stays always on the room, everyone could read it.

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