Hi EveryoneThose of you who have been following my postings and Sarah's Story, you will have come across the following or something similar "I'm extremely private person, quite and shy," and I will go out of my way if I can to keep my privacy in regards to my 'medical condition", private.
This is just one way on how I deal with my privacy, the following message is the result of a link sent to me via my phone (cell). The web page message below is, virtually verbatim;
QuoteHi Sarah, our hospital has you listed for a procedure as requested by your GP in the near future. An essential part of preparing you involves completing this short health questionnaire. We need this to progress your booking, also it may help avoid a lengthy appointment at the hospital.
To get started, ensure you are somewhere you can take the 5 minutes to completes the questionnaire. Completing the questionnaire may prevent us needing to call you and conduct a more lengthy assessment over the phone. Please call us should you have any questions, otherwise we look forward to receiving your assessment.
So I click on the link, I have modified the following statement to remove identifying information and I get the following;
QuotePrivacy statement regarding your personal information.
Personal information provided by you is protected in accordance with the "Information Privacy Acts" in the State of Queensland, (where I live). Your personal information will be used by authorised officers of the department of health in providing appropriate care to you. Information you provide to access the Office 365 service, including your personal information, will be transferred to cloud based servers in the USA and tools within the Microsoft Office before being printed and placed in your health record.
Please select one of the following to agree to the privacy statement:
I wonder what I choose? That's right after 35 years, my privacy is still paramount so I selected NO. Why? Stored in cloud base servers, stored in the USA and stored using a Microsoft product. No way am I going to have personal information stored in the computer system, when it will end up in my personal file anyway. I sceptical of computer system security, because recent events in Australia like the Medicare, Optus breaches and where I used to work was hacked.
I received a phone call and provided answers to the questions they asked and I reiterated the information provided, is not to be stored in the computer system.
I keep my privacy private, in other words I do not tell any government department about my 'medical condition' and that includes 'doctors' or any organization as well, except for the few doctors that I have revealed my condition to recently, I emphasize that it is not to be recorded in their computer systems as far as possible. This ensures I have no hassles whatsoever.
Lets take a step back in time, to when, I changed my life around and the story goes like this, which if you have been following Sarah's Story or posts you would have read about the following;
I legally changed my name over 35 years ago and all forms ever since then. I have always used my legal name and I have never put down my previous name if it was asked on those forms. Regardless of any consequences or not. To give you an indication of what I will do and how strongly I feel in protecting myself, here is a little story.
Approximately three months after changing my name and other certain documents. I attended my first visit to my psychiatrist and my health care card still had my previous name on it (it took some time for new cards to be issued). I handed it over and my name was recorded on a patient card and I asked that it not be done. The receptionist replied it was only temporary until I got my new health care card. I did not contest it and I understood the reason for it being put down, yes my appointment was in my legal name.
Anyway the receptionist went away and my patient card was still on the desk, I was still thinking how can I get rid of my previous name on it. I picked the card up and noticed my name was written in pencil, I saw a rubber on the desk and proceeded to erase my previous name very thoroughly. I then replaced the card back on the desk. A little while later I went into my consultation and as they say the rest is history.and another
How did I get around my previous job without any references? My first job, I was hired as a contractor and I informed the personal consultant about myself and my references. I did not reveal my previous name. This all occurred on a landline phone and I have realised that is one of the few times in my personal history that I have outed myself.He found work for me, never saw me and did not know my previous name, and he said not to worry about those references. After that first job I had my new references and other previous references. I just listed 'available on request'. Anyway that was a life time ago and I'm now in a completely different profession.
The reason why I have never had any problems per se was because I changed my name and documents as quickly as I could. I did not really have a paper trail prior to changing my name legally, so this helped me immensely.
So when the proverbial question; "previous name?" or "have you been known by a previous name?" arises, I will leave the space empty, tick no, or I do not fill in that question. This is what I will do. I consider that if I can get away with it after weighing up the various issues and ramifications involved that I had a previous name, I will do so. In fact I have never filled or answered that particular question. The only two exceptions are obtaining my British passport and my Australian Citizenship Certificate.
These days, its a non issue because the sands of time have forever buried or destroyed, virtually all of the paperwork that ever existed and my previous persona does not exist anymore and this includes the internet as well.
Take care and have a wonderful weekend that is coming your way
Love and HugsSarah BOfficial Greeter
