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Using birthdate as part of user ID

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anon1492
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PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2009 4:31 am    Post subject: Using birthdate as part of user ID Reply with quote

I'm in the habit of signing up on websites with a user ID that includes part of my birth date. For example, if my name were Mark and my birth date was May 17, my user ID would be mark517.

I use a password manager that generates pseudo-random passwords, typically 20 characters long if the site allows.

I'm confident my password is adequately secure but I wonder whether it's poor practice to have my user ID consist of my actual first name together with a number representing birth month and date. Does this give an identity thief too much info?
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Fire Ant
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Joined: 27 Jun 2008
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PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2009 10:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would say that this is a bad practice. It is a form of information leakage. Whilst an outsider may see this user name as a psudo-random user ID, they could guess that you use your name + DOB, an insider e.g. someone who has access to your real name and DOB or who has access to multiple user names will know that you use this format.

You are definitely exposing yourself by putting real information in your username.

Matt_s
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