Did I understand you correctly that if someone asks me about Lauda, then I should tell the person to write to you?
In Defence of Privacy
What else do I need to do to make sure you don't think badly of me?
Nothing. You are doing nothing wrong. Any negative feedback you receive would get sorted in a very similar fashion to the last instance.
Don't worry about what people think, and definitely don't go changing just because someone on the internet thinks you could possibly be infringing on someone's privacy by offering them the chance to answer questions. It's not like you are forcing people into this or combing through post histories to create a profile for individuals against their will.
My advice ignore this feedback. Even the threat of negative doesn't fit with what negative feedback is for. Should you chose to take an unhealthy obsession in Lauda and dedicate your days to trying to find out who they are, it's not against forum rules to seek out information. Are we tagging anyone who researches Satoshi? No.
The worst thing you can do, is change who you are and how you act in an attempt to please everyone.
In sum, not only do you not respect privacy, but you are even against anyone who does.
This is a cypherpunk forum, where the reasonable members value freedom and respect privacy. It was Lauda’s ethos. It is also one of my own strongest principles. Although unfortunately, there can be reasons sometimes to seek information about people who did something to deserve that, I would never pry into forum members’ personal lives out of mere curiosity.
By your example: If Satoshi’s friends expressed a concern for his privacy, then you should respect that, and back the fuck off!
Speculating about Satoshi based on public information is not analogous to my above question. If somebody was fishing for The Real True Secret Story from people who were more or less close to Satoshi, then that would be a matter of grave concern to me. Satoshi does NOT deserve that!
I didn’t pry into Lauda’s details, either—even though she was my friend, and she trusted me sufficiently that she probably would have leaked some info to me. I didn’t ask—not seriously, never; and not at all, besides our long-running joke interrogation over whether she is male or female. And that is one good reason why she trusted me. On the flipside, I would have given her my full dox with KYC ID, selfies, and fingerprints if she had asked! She never asked anything. Never pried. Not a curious cat, in that particular aspect. “Superlatively trustworthy.”
Disrespect for privacy is untrustworthy—both in general, and most specifically on a forum where most of the members want to be more or less anonymous. Really, Mr “Steamtyme”, do you want people digging around about you? Do you want for people to “offer the chance to answer questions” (!) about you? What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.
I am a privacy activist, and I hold my principles consistently. As for you, if you dislike respect for privacy, I suggest that you stop bugging the forum, and retreat to your true home on Facebook.