rickman wrote in :

I am missing something. You are talking about posts that are available
for the entire world to see. How is "privacy" an issue?


The Germen one hides the IP. It's not a big deal in itself, it has more to do
with the attitude. The Germans don't like state, corporate or
extra-national intrusion into the lives of individual members of the public,
by default, The US and UK have recently been shown to be much less cautious,
willing to compromise rights and privacy rather than use cautious detective
work when dealing with internatiional crime, terrorism and such. My concern
with it basically that if I live in a nation that decides that they will no
longer protect my privacy, then I must do so myself. I don't have a lot to
hide if anything at all worth hiding, but what I do have is schizoid
personality disorder, which simply put is a pathological need to be alone, so
our current govt's methods are a source of great stress to me, and I try to
limit that cause as best I can. I'll feel better if and when the status quo
returns to a more healthy live-and-let-live attitude as it used to be.