Date: 12/30/25 9:41 pm From: Carol Riddell via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Personal Health Information
Hi Tweets,
I know the question was asked with curiosity and concern, and it was answered from a place of very good intent. But I think we all need to keep in mind that health information is personal to the individual and oftentimes very private. We also need to keep in mind that Tweeters is not a closed list serv. Anything posted on it can be viewed by anyone in the world with an internet connection. And there are increasing numbers of bots that harvest personal information from the internet to be used for nefarious purposes including identity theft. Many of us are aging and at some point we will all age out of the birding hobby. When questions are asked about the status of another birder, it is probably best to provide your email address in the post (anyone at email dot com) and ask for an offline reply. I think we also need to all keep in mind that we should not share health information without the consent of the individual or a member of that person’s family.
I wish we didn’t need to be so guarded, but the internet is rife with criminals and Tweeters can have personal information harvested by bad actors or bots. This is particularly so when an individual has a somewhat unique name that can be linked to a particular location. With a name, address, and information that an individual may not be in control of their physical abilities or mental capacities, bad things can happen.
