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Comment by veb | Hacker News Reader

I can't help but wonder whether this would've been near impossible if you had not given out your personal details.

I've been using the Internet, IRC etc since I was about 8. Not until I was about 21 did I ever use my real name, address etc.

You state the guy is "mentally ill", but can't the same be said of you if you're retaliating? It's just the same thing, really!

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No, he found out who I was when an idiot friend of mine posted some pics to a gamer forum of us getting wasted and doing stupid 14yr old kid things like skateboarding inside a house party, and that friend had a traceable identity said crazy guy was able to trace to eventually find out who I was.

True we were both complete idiots for doing this but the guy definitely has a tinge of paranoia and insanity as to this day he's still phoning around looking for me. He's also 20yrs older. My lame antics can be excused for being underage, him not so much

I don't give out my personal details on the Internet. I try very hard to make sure that any accounts I have aren't connected to each other or to my real identity. (With the exception of financial accounts, I think Bad Things will happen if you don't use your real name/address/SSN for Paypal and the like.)

I always wonder whether I'm just strange -- I don't really have a good reason to hide like this, I just like my privacy -- but as soon as I saw this story, it reassured me that I'm doing the right thing.

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