Protecting your identity

Decide what you are protecting

Before you post anything, decide what the public gets and what it never gets. Most creators land somewhere on a range: full face and a stage name, face hidden, or face shown only to paying subscribers. None is wrong. What matters is choosing on purpose, because once something is out you cannot pull it back.

Write down the things that must stay private: your legal name, home address, workplace, school, family members, car, and the names of the places you spend time. Everything you publish gets checked against that list.

Separate the persona from the person

The practical rule is one persona, one set of accounts, nothing shared with your personal life.

• A new email address used only for creator work, with its own strong password and two-factor authentication.
• A separate phone number (a prepaid SIM or a number from an app) for any platform that requires one.
• Separate social accounts that have never followed, been followed by, or messaged your personal accounts. Do not log into both on the same browser profile; use a second browser or a second profile.
• A stage name that is not a nickname your friends use and not a variation of your legal name.
• Payment links that show your business name or stage name, not your legal name, where the service allows it. Check what the payer sees before you publish a link.

Platforms that verify your ID see your legal name. That is normal and required. The fans never need to.

Watch the small leaks

Most identity exposures are not hacks. They are details that add up.

• Photo metadata. Phones store location in image files. Most platforms strip it, but strip it yourself before uploading anywhere, and never send an original file by direct message.
• Backgrounds. Mail on a table, a diploma, a street visible through a window, a distinctive tattoo you also show on a personal account, a pet that appears on your family's social media.
• Voice and habits. Mentioning your weather, your time zone, a local sports team, or the name of your gym narrows the search.
• Reused usernames and profile photos. Reverse image search is easy and free. Do not reuse any photo from a personal account, and do not reuse a handle you have used anywhere else.
• Deliveries. A wishlist or shipping service that reveals your city is a problem; see the guide on receiving gifts safely.

Plan for the day it goes wrong

Assume one day someone will try to connect the persona to the person. Prepare now: tell the people who would be hurt by a surprise, keep your legal and persona lives in separate accounts so one compromise does not open everything, and know what you would do if a leak happened. The guides on doxxing and on stalkers cover those steps.