What to do with previously-contributed work under pseudonyms?

[domenic]

Related to #93, but deserves its own issue.

It appears the editors have (per the current direction of #93) erroneously "verified" several individuals despite them likely using pseudonyms:

• whatwg/participant-data@f72a223 @Yay295: commits
• whatwg/participant-data@39fbf47 @payingattention: commits
• whatwg/participant-data@d89eb56 @Rondinelly (edit: fixed!)
• whatwg/participant-data@4b1bac6 @Osintopsec: commits

To the mentioned individuals, would you be able to send a pull request correcting https://github.com/whatwg/participant-data/blob/master/individuals.json to contain the name you usually use to sign contracts?

In cases where that's not possible, would the SG suggest reverting those commits?

[othermaciej]

It would probably be correct to unverified those individuals.

[domenic]

I've updated the OP with links to the commits in question. None are normative. The most-substantial is whatwg/fetch@d219389 which updates an example that was contradicting the normative standard to be in line with the standard.

[annevk]

Note also that in most of these cases editors would have to make identical commits. whatwg/fetch@c9fa1fc is a related example where I could not accept a PR for IPR reasons, but fixing the mistake it highlighted wasn't really possible in any other way than the PR presented. Not being able to merge the original PR in those cases comes across rather petty.

[payingattention]

whatwg/participant-data@39fbf47 @payingattention: commits

To the mentioned individuals, would you be able to send a pull request correcting https://github.com/whatwg/participant-data/blob/master/individuals.json to contain the name you usually use to sign contracts?

I used my real name. I am legal name Prosody Vereable Context (Gabriel Gaston Croft) here, how can I help? Why suddenly now (did W3.org/whatwg.org require you do any due diligence, a single official search? [Edit: I mean the due process is at least asking me and hoping I receive the Github Push Notification and or Email "or else", why are we advocating the immutable blockchain while advocating git rebasing be harmful at the same time, where is the Do No Harm (To User Information) principle in technology, by us people advocating standards and responsibility? {Who is qualified to vet names and why are we not trusting the government to prove identity (except we trust the gov't for identifying IPs for DNS resolution pathways ... why not a DNS for Real Names)?}]), I am being asked to reverify my name (again...)?

My legal name change paperwork can be verified with http://publicnotices.thedailyrecord.com/search/detail.aspx?detail=11032729 (https://web.archive.org/web/20170511150040/http://publicnotices.thedailyrecord.com/search/detail.aspx?detail=11032729, https://archive.today/DquhP, https://conifer.rhizome.org/037/identity-accounts/20200718121732/https://publicnotices.thedailyrecord.com/search/detail.aspx?detail=11032729). I am a user who would volunteer my ID in every transaction (I volunteer for background checks) and that is made the difficulter option, even though technological capability is not the issue. I would advocate that needs to change by having user identity standards passed as gov't law for once. I can be anonymous/pseudonym in 5 seconds and it takes 501 hours to verify my actual name, thanks to internet pathway standards. You might laugh but it's true, using Tor ID is easier than the difficulty verifying my user ID's and Gov ID.

I mean I understand that to get my Stimulus Check (EIP payment) even the IRS.gov has me doing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_tag with the SSA.gov pretending like they're not able to use computers to store and track my paper work, I've been put on waiting 37 minutes "on hold" (should be a "Use of Force" term if used like that, put in an extrajudicial cyberhold, a cyberbrig...) every time I call, and they're still telling me (half the time, half can somehow, maybe they're using the legacy Oracle.com version with an actual living breathing shamantic oracle, because it seems to be a personal decision if to read my ID as valid) they're not able to verify my name that was verified with a red stamp and gold seal (for several hundred $dollars, paid in USD to the gov court clerk, in addition to my verifying with LegalZoom.com as explained partially in https://www.facebook.com/notes/prosody-vereable-context/why-ur-name-makes-sense-because-gov-name-makes-feel-gag-orders-talk-hurt/10152911445569178/ (which https://web.archive.org/web/20181215222519/https://www.facebook.com/notes/prosody-vereable-context/why-ur-name-makes-sense-because-gov-name-makes-feel-gag-orders-talk-hurt/10152911445569178 does not save/show my family/parent commented <3 "Michael Croft: Our name is our face to the world. Thus I agree with https://www.facebook.com/prosody?fref=ufi that keeping our parents assigned name into the digital world is deeply flawed." <3<3), you can login to verify that I have family who know I changed my name too) in 2015, before Facebook.com "flagged" (is not a legal terminology, is hexspeak/hackerspeak prime, "flag" means A Human Not Named Responsible Officially Did That) my account Facebook.com/prosody), "flagged" is like "on hold" which can mean creating identity/safety issues, and I had to go to at the main Baltimore, Maryland courthouse by a U.S. court judge, just to access my Facebook chat/mail, and I will never know who labeled me for that, making me then verify ID of all the times (my Concordia University email address was never a problem before, I ID'd with Gabriel and Prosody together openly for almost a decade, feels like weaponized flagging/ticketing), there is not any due log. The Support Ticket/Issue here is actually better in terms of being provable, than when at Quora.com, Facebook.com, and IRS.gov I was flagged and then fixed for name issues multiple times. I would pay $1000 a year for a USB key from id.gov key if I could stop being interrogated for proof of identity by well meaning people who are just instructed to ask. At least there is a log I am being asked here, most major social networks are not required to publicly flag, WHATWG is being a better standard for even just name reports, at least because of "Public Issue Creation" I am due log.

Why am I being asked to verify my name when I have sent my real ID to every major social media network organization and really verified my identity to a greater degree offiicial than many people with red carpet marked "Official"/"Verified" accounts.

I voluntarily centralize my records, attach my accounts together, yet I am being determinably attacked for "decentralizing" when "central" agencies can not verify me as being a human single individual with deep public accounts going back 20 years, me 99% of the time with a single IP address, me writing cleartext in clearnet 99% of the time. There are leaders and CEO's (many who use PGP/VPN over/instead of Git Support Issue Tickets) who do not have as much identity paperwork proof/verification/evidence as I voluntarily prove for the record.

My legal "Name Change Reason" was officially on paper "My username is my name of common usage." (that is why I write my name as prosody, as lowercase instead of uppercase here, because usernames are often forcedCapitalized, officially), also for the record, I wish the entire identity proof was made public record, maybe through https://my.key.gov (sp https://my.id.gov?).

I can verify with my government id paperwork, I can post here, I can use an identity verification service, and you can ask https://www.quora.com/profile/Prosody-Vereable-Context/questions the Quora.com superadmins who changed my name (the slug URL redirect works [I wish that was standard to redir for name changes, for me Gabriel redirs {301 URL.Slug::Redirect?} to Prosody name]) from https://www.quora.com/profile/Gabriel-Gaston-Croft/questions before (even though I can not edit because they've got me cyberbrigged) after I gave my gov id, all have my same gov't identity paperwork.

I can verify by meeting for coffee/drinks (I prefer electronic, but drink coffee if necessary to prove identity), or webcam/video with https://YouTube.com/iGabe, I can also verify all my keys (SSH, PGP) with https://keybase.io/memorization (keybase/client#14640 too?), I paid for www.iGabe.com since 1999 with my real name and www.iSew.info since 2013 same very open me with my voluntarily public WHOIS information (before the GDPR change hid WHOIS data), I can make a post with a keyword you specify to verify I wrote here in 137 ways.

^{P.S. Yo/hello @annevk, it is not personal, thank you for whatwg/dom#688 (https://web.archive.org/web/20180921163734/https://github.com/whatwg/dom/issues/688) you helped, I am talking about the process not the individuals (even though I am talking about me as an individual), the process is important, please do not take personally.}

[foolip]

The SG talked about this yesterday, see #137.

While the current answer to "Can contributors use pseudonyms to sign the participation agreement?" is "no", we do not recommend the contributions that have already happened be reverted. That would not be productive, especially as the changes are quite small per @domenic's checking in #101 (comment).

Our recommended resolution is to unverify @Yay295 and @Osintopsec.

@Rondinelly fixed their name in whatwg/participant-data#15, and @payingattention stated in this thread that they're not using a pseudonym. @payingattention, can you confirm that it should be "Prosody Vereable Context(", or is it actually "Prosody Vereable Context" or "Prosody Vereable Context (Gabriel Gaston Croft)"? Apologies for the trouble, and thanks for contributing to the WHATWG!

This does not resolve the issue of what exactly editors should do when verifying an individual, but I'll file a separate issue for that.

[foolip]

I've sent whatwg/participant-data#27 to unverify @Yay295 and @Osintopsec. For both of you, if you are following this thread and would like to contribute to the WHATWG going forward, please do speak up or reach out in email to [email protected] if you'd prefer. What will happen if whatwg/participant-data#27 is merged is that future attempts to contribute to a WHATWG Living Standard will require verification. Perhaps by then we will have resolved #93, but I can't make any promises.

[foolip]

I've filed #138 for the remaining issue here.

[payingattention]

and @payingattention stated in this thread that they're not using a pseudonym. @payingattention, can you confirm that it should be "Prosody Vereable Context(", or is it actually "Prosody Vereable Context" or "Prosody Vereable Context (Gabriel Gaston Croft)"? Apologies for the trouble, and thanks for contributing to the WHATWG!

Ideally, in order from first choice (0) to last choice (3) as follows, names listed in code quotes:

(0) prosody—Gab<!-- riel --> Vereable<!-- Gaston --> <!-- Croft -->Context(, <<< from whatwg/dom@6e33c90 (https://web.archive.org/web/20200719232739/https://github.com/whatwg/dom/commit/6e33c904f01c39f6d6a1565757da383089cde382)
(1) Prosody Vereable Context (Gabriel Gaston Croft)
(2) Prosody Vereable Context(
(3) Prosody Vereable Context

Interestingly, Facebook.com has me registering "Gabriel Gaston Croft" as birth/former name and "Prosody Vereable Context" as current legal name (like Quora.com I mentioned before) so either search works to find/verify/vet me. The format my profile shows is "Prosody Vereable Context (Gabriel Gaston Croft)" for my FB.com public name setting.

Settings at https://www.facebook.com/prosody/about?section=bio

Main www.fb.com/prosody profile header.

Note: I understand if the signature with <--comment--> style was not ideal (but I argue it shows the same for the user, and lets coders read details, like slugs work professionally with many hexspeak algorithms), The name comment code does not init or inject scripts, is only readable with "View Source...", but I will not fight if that's what causes an issue. I know it passed the security check, but we can change that, I will defer (0) and (1) are okay. Edit: Actually (1) is best, final answer. Edit again: But then I have to commit another change? Should I just keep the original?

I will still be able to check the edit log for the name/identity version changes, and the/my original commit remains? #137 says keeps the info, but you're asking here so I am still nervous. How do I `"commit changes", or is the code stable?

#137 @\dbaron: That’s reasonable, except the one person who commented in the issue that it is their real name.

Commented additionally at #137 (comment), can you attribute mention of "the one person" #137 says, with my real username (and maybe my comment ID linked response before) please.

[foolip]

@payingattention I've sent whatwg/participant-data#28 to update your name to "Prosody Vereable Context (Gabriel Gaston Croft)" to match your preference. I have also updated the meeting minutes in #137 as requested, which makes them clearer, thanks!

Thanks for your patience with this! There's no need to do anything else now, and no contributions (yours or any other) will be reverted. #138 tracks how we handle this better going forward.

[foolip]

whatwg/participant-data#28 is merged now, so let's consider this issue resolved as per #101 (comment).