I just had an idea because of another thread on the AW forums.
The other thread is titled 'Do you recognize this writer?' and features a pic that some AW'er snapped in a coffee shop, and it has caused many of us to speculate as to who (whom?) the man in the picture might actually be.
The discussion broke out as to whether or not it was legal for our AW'er to have snapped the pic and posted it, with the overwhelming (and correct) census that it IS okay, and I agree with that. It's a public setting.
However, I have a different proposal for the many and nefarious great minds assembled here on AW.
to wit: How FAST could a random person, somewhere on the planet, be positively, accurately identified, from a pic posted on the internet, using just our resources of family, friends, internet searches etc?
And without help from legal and law enforcement databases, and without cheating (asking the person who took the pic). If the person was a non-celebrity, and not hiding, or concealing their sex, age, height, overall looks etc.
It might be fun to do it, just to see how small a world it really is.
ETA - I don't want to re-visit the 'legality' discussion of the posted pic in this thread, because that's being well-covered in the other thread. I just wondered what others would think of the idea of identifying someone, randomly, from a single pic, using the internet and social circle power alone.
The other thread is titled 'Do you recognize this writer?' and features a pic that some AW'er snapped in a coffee shop, and it has caused many of us to speculate as to who (whom?) the man in the picture might actually be.
The discussion broke out as to whether or not it was legal for our AW'er to have snapped the pic and posted it, with the overwhelming (and correct) census that it IS okay, and I agree with that. It's a public setting.
However, I have a different proposal for the many and nefarious great minds assembled here on AW.
to wit: How FAST could a random person, somewhere on the planet, be positively, accurately identified, from a pic posted on the internet, using just our resources of family, friends, internet searches etc?
And without help from legal and law enforcement databases, and without cheating (asking the person who took the pic). If the person was a non-celebrity, and not hiding, or concealing their sex, age, height, overall looks etc.
It might be fun to do it, just to see how small a world it really is.
ETA - I don't want to re-visit the 'legality' discussion of the posted pic in this thread, because that's being well-covered in the other thread. I just wondered what others would think of the idea of identifying someone, randomly, from a single pic, using the internet and social circle power alone.
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