Facebook is a business. It has a policy.
Users must agree to that policy in order to use the platform.
I understand that — I get it. And I have email from Facebook saying that the name I use on Facebook should be the name I use in the offline world and am recognized by in the offline world.
I have several names I’m known by. Many are informal. GreyHawk is one of the names I’ve been known by — online and off — since 1976. That’s significantly longer than Facebook has existed.
I started a Facebook account under the name GreyHawk to further extend the options for folks who know and communicate with me only as GreyHawk, regardless of when we’re online or off. I have friends and contacts in a variety of circumstances who value their privacy, and prefer to use this name to communicate with me. It keeps them, and me, safe. There are multiple people with similar names online — just google GreyHawk.
Facebook has been working to nail down users to limit their participation only to those use their “real” names — as defined, generally, by having some form of “recognizable ID” in form of a birth certificate, government ID, etc. If they truly wish to ensure that all their users are “real” in that sense, then they should start by requiring that type of proof of identity upon signup.
There are many, many people who are not using their “government id recognizable” names on Facebook. Some of them are using names that are real-ish, but alternate IDs so that their friends — or special contacts, like me — can reach them without tipping off others who endanger them. FB was a convenient option — it’s not the only one. If they were required to provide linkable ID to continue using their accounts, they’d give up FB in a heartbeat to remain safe and secure.
I got on Facebook — and not long afterward, on LinkedIn — as GH for several reasons. I was very surprised that I felt compelled to start a GH account on LinkedIn, but several folks who wanted to connect with GH refused to connect my other, more mundane, government-acceptable-id & birth cert sporting self. I’ve maintained my presence on FB partly because I’ve found it's enjoyable — I can be politically and socially active on a well-recognized platform and help get the word out, plus communicate with a lot of people who “recognize” me from other areas online. It won’t be a total loss if I cannot continue, but it will cause some inconvenience to me and to some others who simply like seeing this as a touchpoint.
Initially, I was very careful to ensure that my other identities were well hidden. I’ve since had to make some adjustments due to the caregiving book’s release, but I still avoid direct connections and links between ids for various reasons. I’m grateful that some of those who I’ve angered online were either unable to follow-through with their threats, or too stupid to make the connections...
Now, FB has repeatedly asked me for more personally identifying information — they don’t accept the fact that I’m actually known as GreyHawk both online and off, even though my history goes back well beyond the birth of their company. Heck, my “birth” predates the birth of Mark Zuckerberg, FB’s founder.
I’m not going to provide any of the requested data to Facebook. They are not a government agency. They do not employ me. They may have the right to require me to meet certain criteria for participation, but if that criteria is that I’m known by the name I use in both cyber and meatspace, then they’re S.O.L. if they want me to also provide government documentation proving that.
I can provide them date-stamped copies of access logs cataloging the IP addresses of various Congressional computer systems, including the Sargeant at Arms’s machine, and show when those IPs were recorded accessing articles I wrote — as GreyHawk — for ePluribus Media when exposing or writing about various abuses and crimes performed by the Bush Administration and their Republican colleagues during that infamous reign of error. I can demonstrate similar type of record logs when I was citing a Department of Justice source relating to abuses at the DoJ. I can show references within other blogs — even blogs of Congressional reps — where members of Congress left messages for me. As GreyHawk.
Somehow I don’t think FB will care.
But I do think it would be interesting if people who can vouch for knowing me as GH both online and off would contact Facebook and tell them so. And, regardless, if folks who know me would also share this post widely — particularly on Facebook — and ask others to do the same.
Will that likely convince Facebook to review it’s policy, or stop them from disabling my account? Probably not. But it may bring them a lot of additional attention, particularly about how problematic the requirement for gathering so much personally identifiable information is, and enable to more seriously question FB’s ability to securely safeguard such information.
Even if I had a single FB account signed up by the name I pay taxes under, I would not deem FB’s request for personally identifiable information to be one that I could ever consider. They are not my employer. They are not a government agency. They are not law enforcement. And their security is not up to my standards, nor do I choose to share such personal information so capriciously simply to network and participate on social media.
I have other ways to stay in touch with critical contacts, and they always have at least several ways to get messages to me. FB is a convenience, and has been most beneficial on the social/political front — I’d like to keep it, but I can’t and won’t compromise my security, my personally identifiable information, or that of anyone else.
Can you do me a favor and share this story? And, as mentioned above, if you can vouch for knowing me as GH both online and off, would you let FB know? (Obviously, don’t do that if you’re trying to maintain a low profile yourself...)
Let’s see if this can get any sort of positive action going.
Thanks, folks.
— GH
Sunday, Mar 20, 2016 · 12:44:48 PM +00:00
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GreyHawk
Brief update (8:42 am ET, 20 Mar 2016):
For now, my FB account has been reinstated. I want to thank everyone who has helped out, and ask that if you can, please continue to share this post — it may help others facing a similar situation.