FSLabs forum requires your real name to get liveries.

[G-RFRY 1,707]

FB ,APPLE, TWITTER, and MS, will never ask for your true identity they already know it. 

[HiFlyer 9,343]

18 minutes ago, w6kd said:

Anyone that truly thinks they have anything resembling actual functional anonymity when using public internet sites and services is fooling themselves.

Anyone who thinks they are safe on the city streets is probably fooling themselves.

Doesn't mean they should walk around with hundred dollar bills taped to them, and make it easier for the bad guys.

Also, a good thief can probably break into any regular house.

But, I'm still not going to leave my doors unlocked.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,927]

@AirShow, I believe people are allowed to disguise their name by adding underscores between letters. I’ve seen a few like that. But I’ve used my real name there and here for donkeys years without any issues.

Heck, my weather station link shows where I live to within a couple of hundred yards and no-one has either nicked my weather station or my computers.

I think you’ll be okay revealing your real name assuming you’re not a celebrity, politician or royalty. 😁

[roesti 71]

24 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I think you’ll be okay revealing your real name assuming you’re not a celebrity, politician or royalty

Maybe he is a member of your mentioned groups? We don't know, so we don't should make assumptions 😉

Other than that, there are enough valid reasons why somebody doesn't want his name show up on a public forum. And everything on these forums is still viewable (probably indexed by search engines), even if you're not logged in. I doubt that a name with "dashes" in it is good enough to hide.

Believe it or not, there are people out there whose intentions are not the best. There may even exist employers who like to "stalk" their employees and ask why person X was able to post something at 3:00 a.m. on a specific forums while he should be asleep. I know this may sound paranoid for some folks but stuff like this really exists (yes, I know.. one could argue "if this is true, this person should change the job!" or whatever, but this discussion would never end and go in circles forever - it's just an example).
Maybe he just don't want to be connected to a certain community. You could still argue "what's bad about being recognized as a member of the flight simulation community", but:

In my opinion people should be free to choose what they want to share online and what they don't want to share. Everybody may have his personal reasons to make this decision on his own.

Yes, of course there are enough other companies that don't care and collect your data anyway, but this can't be an excuse. I'm aware that total privacy is an illusion, I can agree with that. But at least you should always have the option, that's the correct way. And even if companies like Microsoft have my data, this doesn't mean they can freely share it with other companies, which they don't (then FSLabs or others wouldn't need to ask at first :D)

This isn't directly dedicated to the FSLabs forums (as said, you can still make your choice and stay "hidden" from the public), just some general thoughts.

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by roesti

[Afterburner 374]

I don't like it if a forum requires you to display your real first- and last name to be allowed to participate. That way, anyone may scan the internet for your full name and find out that you are active in a forum and make their inference about you, which may affect you beneficially or adversely. This might seem non-essential, but someone interested in you, like a future employer or a future partner, may think that you must be spending a lot of time with flight simulation if they see that you post a lot on the PMDG or FSL forum and thus conclude that you may not be as productive of a worker - and I don't want anyone to know it nor come up with this crazy idea. (And god forbid you have made a political statement somewhere, which can literally cost you a job or a relationship in today's cancel culture). This is especially a problem if you have a rare, unique name. Going the other way, forum users may attempt to find information about you in the internet that you want to keep at a low profile.

In my opinion, if I have purchased PMDGs or FS-Labs' software legally, which should matter to them most (and they can verify it), I should have the right not to disclose my full personal name in their forum if I want to use their support, for it doesn't diminish my positive financial contribution towards them. When it comes to easy communication between users, why can't the first name be sufficient?

Edited April 22, 2021 by Afterburner

[Bob Scott 7,715]

47 minutes ago, HiFlyer said:

Anyone who thinks they are safe on the city streets is probably fooling themselves.

Doesn't mean they should walk around with hundred dollar bills taped to them, and make it easier for the bad guys.

Also, a good thief can probably break into any regular house.

But, I'm still not going to leave my doors unlocked.

That's hyperbole--not a good analogy at all.  Walking around with hundred dollar bills taped to yourself would be more like posting your name, DOB, social security number, and credit card numbers on Reddit, not just registering your name on an obscure vendor's forum account and then never posting publicly. 

I'm not talking about the difference between leaving your doors unlocked or not, I'm talking about something more like the difference between locking your doors with a standard door lock/deadbolt or putting six deadbolts on the front door (despite the fact that all your windows and patio door are still made of glass).

There's prudence, and then there's paranoia.

[charliearon 3,017]

I think I gotta disguise my hidden trap doors that lead to the alligator pits a little better! 😄

[roesti 71]

40 minutes ago, charliearon said:

I think I gotta disguise my hidden trap doors that lead to the alligator pits a little better

Yeah, there are always ways to make concerns of others sound ridicilous 🙂 I can understand that some things may sound far-fetched, but maybe sometimes it's not wrong to take a look outside of our "western world bubble".

There even exist countries (not that far away that you might think from a European point of view) that are known to imprison not only their own people, but even foreigners who just wanted to make a vacation at a certain place, after the government found stuff that those people posted somewhere publically on some social media platform - stuff people like us living in western societies would laugh about or not really pay attention to and the people who posted it didn't thought it would lead to such dramatic consqeuences (for example, just disagreements about decisions of this certain government or support of the opposition party). Sure, I doubt there was any relation to flight simulation, but this planet as a whole isn't as free as the United States or the European Union.

If you never encountered any disadvantages due to things you posted online, I'm really happy for you and hope you'll never do (if you live in San Francisco like your profile suggests, you probably won't). I'm serious here. But privacy is a topic that is important as long as we don't live in a perfect world where people act like we expect 🙂

It's just my opinion and from time to time, it doesn't hurt to make people without those problems aware, I think 🙂

Edited April 22, 2021 by roesti

[F737MAX 5,526]

I have a strong desire to remain anonymous online.
If I were to reveal my real name, unlike someone called John Smith, it would be very easy to identify me. A quick Google reveals only 4 other people in the World who share my name and are searchable online.
Posting in English makes it very obvious which of the 5 people who share my name that I am.

I'm not famous, but I have clients/potential clients who look-up my name. Not all of them would be impressed by this hobby and could use it as a factor not to engage my firm.
My real name online presence is part marketing, part CV.

Using a made-up profile name allows me to enjoy posting on social media sites without fear of being judged and potentially losing work. Compelling me to use my real name for leisure/non-work related content is just too risky and means I won't use a site.
Therefore, I fully understand the rationale of anyone who doesn't want to use (except for limited circumstances) their real name online.

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

5 hours ago, AirShow said:

Hello,

I am trying to get liveries for my FSLabs A320X purchase. Can anyone please help me out with a link to where I can download them, other than the FSLabs forum? 

Their forum seems to require that you sign up with your real name, even if you have no intention of making any posts. This is a huge privacy concern, and I am not comfortable with it, especially as I have no intention of making any posts on there at this time, and just want to get liveries for this expensive purchase.

Not even PMDG makes you sign up to a forum with your real name, in order to get liveries for your purchases. In fact, this is the first time I have seen this with any flightsim addon developer. There is no reason why the livery download section needs to be locked behind such a requirement, as the A320X addon already has its own purchase verification system.

I understand your privavy concern.  Several flight sim websites require your real name, and doing this solves several key problems, the two primary are:

1. Users behave a bit better in the forums when they no longer believe they are anonomous. This can take care of up to 70% of all forum moderaton and generally speaking is condusive to a nicer and more professional community/forum.

2. Software piracy is a big deal in our community, so several key developers insist on users priving their real name so their purchase can be checked prior to providing technical support or downloads.

One thing you can do is create a graphic with your real name. Since it's a graphic, it won't be indexed by search engines, so someone won't find your posts if they search for your name.  See my signature graphic below for an example.

Finally, so long as someone is polite and respectful to everyone, I really don't see the need to hide thier name from others in the community, but you certainly have a right to feel how you feel.

Best wishes!

[LRBS 943]

1 hour ago, DaveCT2003 said:

I understand your privavy concern.  Several flight sim websites require your real name, and doing this solves several key problems, the two primary are:

1. Users behave a bit better in the forums when they no longer believe they are anonomous. This can take care of up to 70% of all forum moderaton and generally speaking is condusive to a nicer and more professional community/forum.

2. Software piracy is a big deal in our community, so several key developers insist on users priving their real name so their purchase can be checked prior to providing technical support or downloads.

 

As much as software piracy is a big deal and we hate it, that's a lame excuse to limit someone's access (in this case a few liveries or free updates) to a product already paid for, especially when the company has all your details.

 

Total nonsense, when we purchased the software and they took the money right away, it was ok, now suddenly when the customer comes back and logs back in to get a free livery suddenly becomes a suspect.

 

With respect to FSLABS and PMDG, they have a token that automatically transmits your information back to them to verify the authenticity. When you re-install the software also is going back to the developer to check the purchase. That's not enough?

 

Gush, I buy any windows version and when I install it on a computer is not asking for my "real name".

 

Also being "nicer or more professional" has nothing to do with your real name, it's called education.

 

Revealing our identity (real mane) is our choice our right to privacy.

 

[Skywolf 992]

This thread will go no where.....We have 2 sides.  I have been a victim of identity theft b/c google just shows the name.  I am in the camp - when paid for software has all the security checks in place, one should not be forced to use real name in a public forums.

I just bug the support team via tickets but too bad I can't really enjoy the forums by contributing.  The irony is that by not participating in the forums, I do save time lol.

Have a great day. 

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by Skywolf

[out 769]

4 hours ago, F737NG said:

I have clients/potential clients who look-up my name. Not all of them would be impressed by this hobby and could use it as a factor not to engage my firm.

Wow, I would never think of it. 🤔
My customers do not give a $#*@ about my free time hobbies. And those who know, are usually very impressed. One even got into it! 😁

[willy647 193]

What is stopping you to register with a made up name ? Problem solved.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,927]

15 minutes ago, willy647 said:

What is stopping you to register with a made up name ? Problem solved.

I believe your name is connected to your purchases. If you visit the forum each aircraft you purchase has to be verified and is shown against your profile.