I feel you didn't read the original post. It isn't about expecting privacy, it isn't a criticism of the fundamentals of Lemmy as a minority seem to be taking it (there are many ways I explain how it is more private from being tracked and profiled).

It is about understanding how privacy is maintained on a federated platform.

Many users coming from other platforms do not understand the mechanisms here and how they are different.

Take a look for the comment here about vote privacy (the highest voted comment here) or dozens of the other posts where people are coming to this awareness. Many assumed was private due to coming from a platform where this was.

I’d also argue stalking has more to do with the mental health issues of the stalker than the victim being to blame for how they interacted with the world. We don’t tell a student not to participate in lectures because someone may latch onto something they said and become infatuated. We punish stalkers instead.

If someone is aware and engaging to their comfort level, no matter how open, I would not blame them, the victim, for being stalked. If someone wanted to be cautious, but they didn't know the risks here, I would feel guilty for not educating them on how they can protect themselves.

Idk this is a ramble. I see so many things so often that used to be personal responsibility on online safety, that instead of teaching the skills we make tools. And i feel like not teaching good personal safety and protection is goong to doom any project ultimately.

You can’t fix ignorance without education.

Which is the entire point of my post, to encourage education in this space (which again, again, again, is different than what many are coming from with its own unique set of risks)

I appreciate that you are reflecting on how you want to manage your own privacy in this space!

People should be educated enough of the pros and cons as much as possible, although that might mean some would get intimidated and refuse to join.

Bingo. Which would you rather do, talk someone's pants off, or scare them off or otherwise have them caught with them down?

Also love your local domain.

I've had a similar idea. Want to race to market? (you'll have a head start, I'm heading into the domain of managing federation block lists next)

Unless a user is viewing from kbin, which interoperates here. It is entirely in view to the kbin UI (and Mastodon I believe).

Like, IP addresses. If you sign in to YouTube from a phone with account X at IP I and also sign in to a Lemmy instance from that IP, then from another IP, also sign in to both your YouTube account and your Lemmy account, maybe repeat the process a few more times, chances are pretty good that the YouTube user and the Lemmy user are the same person.

Yeah, all part of managing your own privacy and understanding when your IP leaks from Lemmy.

Or via email addresses (Because remember that email you used to sign up with? Did you use that email account anywhere else?)

The hope is your admin is responsible and guards your IP and email from being public. That responsibility would be what an admin is highlighting in a policy.

Also USA does have laws regarding site usage by children. Might be more of a TOS thing, but this was brought over from the Mastodon policy I adapted.

IANAL. Especially anywhere near children.

If you self host, or find an admin you have incredible trust in, you should remain untraceable if you manage your engagement responsibly.

Though another thing I highlight in the policies is this is experimental software. Leaks can and will happen. We have a voice and can play an active part in preserving that privacy.

Recorder is always on by default with your engagement; recorder is always off by default when it comes to things that automatically identify you. It is the opposite in a monolith service.

It does to many, thus the awareness of how it works here, that is all.

If you don't think it matters, or you understand enough to be sure never to expose yourself in a way that you are uncomfortable with that is awesome! Many are waking up to a realization of the nature of things here they were previously not aware of, and some are growing very uncomfortable with that now that they can't adapt their previous engagement to that knowledge.

It isn't truly immutable though, and could be dangerous to propagate the idea that it is 100% immutable

That isn't what I am speaking to, and the fact someone could make a copy or it is archived somewhere doesn't make the statement that you can always remove your data from the platform true. And there is a difference between a potential copy and an original federated, distributed, and indexed version. There are also reasons someone might want to remove their data other than simply being worried about the actual content of it.

People need to be aware of the persistence of data, but people also have to understand the technology they are using to make their own informed decisions on how they engage.