Recently the topic of anonymity has come up and I'd like to discuss it here. It's pretty easy to remain anonymous online or to even create an entirely different persona. It's also easy to give away identifying information if you're not actively trying not to.

For example, if I'm in a discussion about skiing and mention the name of the very small ski area where I patrol that can easily lead to someone knowing my full name, my address, seeing a photo and who knows what else. I almost always use my first name online and I'm the only Jill who works at that ski area. It wouldn't be too hard to take that and expand on it if someone had the inclination to do so, even with as little information as my first name and the ski area I volunteer for.

So, how do you protect your privacy when you're online? What information are you comfortable giving out and what information do you never share? Do you have any hard and fast limits that you stick to or are there different rules for different situations? Do you have any concerns about your privacy or anonymity?