Hell, Beth,
If you are worried about it revealing your identity, then take off all that stuff from your email signature for starters.
As for ham radio, yes your call sign is searchable. But, most people won't know or bother with that. There are over a hundred white pages listings for your lastname, so it's probably more common than mine is.
Of course, any time you post on a social network i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, as well as a lot of email lists which put their posts in the public, people will see who you are.
So, to sum up, your callsign is probably the least of your worries.
Steve, K8SP
----- Original Message -----
From: Beth
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 9:45 PM
Subject: what identifying information is tied to a callsign?
Okay, guys. I don't normally post on here. But I've got some serious
decision making to do before I get my ham license. My boyfriend, who is
already a ham, has a pretty common name. Okay, I was talking to him and
another ham friend of mine, but I got worried about several things:
1. If you Google for instance my boyfriend's callsign, you will find his
profile right there on QRZ, Ham Shack, Arizona's ham radio database, and
lots of other places. So that worries me because my name is a one and
only, pretty unique.
2. If you Google the same callsign plus your name, imagine what pops up
after that. When I Googled my name alone, I managed to bring up some
pretty weird stuff even I admit I wrote, plus my Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, Instagram, etc. I even found my Foursquare profile, and eerily,
I found a 411 website that contained my dad's phone number and address,
and if you Google the correct name, not Elizabeth, but Beth, you will
definitely pop up my dad's address and phone number. I don't want this,
so I'm trying to decide. If I google a callsign and name put together,
you narrow your search, but it appears, however, that my boyfriend's
name is too common, and I joked with him that he had a clone in
Vancouver Washington State. lol
So this is my dilemma: if I get a ham radio license now, unmarried, with
the maiden name as is, my dad could easily pop up in Google search
results, and someone, maybe another strange weird person, could contact
my dad and ask why I even bothered. He has some mental competency issues
with me he has not resolved, so that's a given. I hate my maiden name
anyway. But I am leaning toward waiting for a license when my marriage
certificate with my boyfriend is confirmed. When we sign and dot the I's
and cross the T's on our I Do slip, so to speak, then I think I'd be
better off with a ham license, smooth sailing. The reason why I am
writing this list is to get advice and to see if I'm doing this all in
the name of informed decision making. I know some of you who are male
won't concur, but in this digital age, you can Google somebody's
callsign and Lord knows what is connected with that. As for my
boyfriend's clone in Vancouver, I'm not concerned, but I find it weird.
I wish the boyfriend's callsign would show me his Facebook page though,
after all I think that's where we're headed.
Thank you all for your advice in advance.
--
Beth Taurasi, Windows 10 edition,
Home: 720-550-6142
Cell: 720-435-7407
Skype: denverqueen0920
Twitter: Ms_denverqueen
Instagram: denverqueen0920
Facebook: www.facebook.com/denverqueen0920
Blog: www.denverqueen.com
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