Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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Privacy in academia? (feddit.nl)

submitted 3 months ago by Brickardo@feddit.nl to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi everyone,

I've been checking this forum but I have not managed to find duplicates (I'm using Summit for Lemmy). If that's the case I'll remove this post.

I'm about to start a PhD. I've been told I will be required to partake in publications and other shenanigans. I am not against it, but I'm very concerned about having my full name flying around the internet, as I've always been hesitant of sharing any of that information (real name, pictures, etc).

Ultimately, I only care for potential employers to know that it's actually me the one who has written this or that, which I would happily disclose in private.

What's the usual stance in this situation?

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[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You can not. You can choose whether say your middle name is there or not but at minimum your first and last name are there. You'll also be in society databases. Name changes from marriage are still clunky and many women remain under their "maiden" name for publications though now with orcid all your stuff getting linked together is a lot easier.

Certain pay for publish journals you could probably get away with a pseudonym and fake credentials but then you're not doing good science.

[–] ExtravagantEnzyme@lemm.ee 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Ok, good to know. But aside from knowing you're a researcher, what other info could someone get after seeing you credited as an author? I'd think as long as you practice solid online privacy, the only thing someone could learn is your specific field of study. Do you use a tool like Optery to remove your name from data brokers? Is Lemmy your only social media account? If you said no to either of these, maybe start there to help reduce your online footprint.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

I mean they get your name and place of work. The university will have a website with your name and picture (though they don't update the pic often if ever).

As a researcher you will for better or worse also need social media accounts in order to network and be aware of non-standard funding opportunities. This at minimum is LinkedIn but Facebook/Twitter/Instagram are also used.

When you collaborate as the not main person you also have to be willing to use the tools/software the main person is using. Whether that is Dropbox, Microsoft office, Slack, or Google drive. Sometimes all of them for different things. I control what I can but simply have to let the rest go for my own sanity (and employability).