What Can One Guy Do With Your Real Name?

When one Blizzard forum user challenged another to ring him at work using just his real name, he got a little more than he bargained for. Still believe Real ID is harmless?

Over at the What You Did There; I See It blog, there’s a detailed play-by-play of the challenge, though the writer maintains good taste in not doing anything nasty with all his shiny new information:

Me: First and foremost, I want to apologize for calling you at work, and I also apologize if this doesn’t make sense, but are you Sikketh, from Thunderlord?
MV: ::pause:: Yes.
Me: So yeah, that took me about 20 minutes and it was pretty easy.
MV: Wow. Ok.
Me: Also, just for shits and giggles, is your address ?
MV: yep.
Me: Phone number 555-555-5555?
MV: yep.
Me: I know your parents’ names are Name1 and Name2, I know your room is painted blue and I know you have a cute dog. I know where you were on the 4th of July and I know when you got back. Don’t worry, I’m not a crazy, I’m not going to do anything with it, and I’m not going to post your address or anything anywhere. I just wanted you to know that what I did was very easy and very free, from just your name and toon’s name. You have a good day, and thanks for being a good sport about it.
MV: Hey, I did basically ask for it – thank you. I was wrong about RealID.

Atomic MPC has been documenting the fallout since it was announced that you’ll have to use your real name on Blizzard forums, and they note that Blizzard has been mighty quiet ever since one of their employees gave their real name and had to close down his Facebook page after being tracked down.

Although they have brought back the Starcraft 2 beta somewhat prematurely – distraction, or no?


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