[Redacted for policing disability]

Besides, I have Himself fighting in my corner – and he takes on large bureaucracies and petty bureaucrats as a sort of hobby (he started this while working for the Department of Social Security, and he still has fun with it). He’s also the type of Gemini person who gets away with doing things which are seemingly at 90 degrees to the rest of reality (as in, he does something, while I’m saying “that won’t… oh, it worked. How did you do that?”) and somehow hoodwinking reality for long enough to get away with it. It makes him do things like making sure there’s a doc[2] on his Centrelink record saying yes, moving from Cottesloe to Parmelia is a legal move in the great chess game of receiving the dole, and makes him keen on getting exact references to the exact portion of the Centrelink procedure manual which says it is so, but it’s a great comfort to have.

[1] As in “deserving poor” – meek, mild, grateful for the scraps from the government’s table, no sinful behaviours, no forbidden pleasures etc. The preferred condition for all recipients of government benefits.
[2] Document – a note attached to the computer file.

Again, I said “for myself.” I personally do not think that it is strong enough a likelihood to be a concern. As I stated above, others may feel differently, and everyone has to act according to their comfort level. I never once suggested anybody should do differently.

Myself, I’m not willing to constantly be looking over my shoulder because of the possibility that x, y, or z may happen because I’m too open. If it does, I’ll deal with it then.

When “dealing with it” can involve being homeless and not being able to feed yourself or your children, let alone afford your medications etc, while you attempt to engage in a protracted court case against an opponent with unlimited money in a court that may well not even be accessible to you, it’s not quite as simple as making a choice to ignore the possibility.

I think it’s important that people consider how much they’re willing to put out there and the possible consequences. People think that the Internet is anonymous, as long as you use a screen name, but that’s not absolutely true. How many scandals have there been because somebody outed an anonymous blogger? Nothing said on the Internet is ever truly private; even if you tell it to only one person, what do you do if that person turns vindictive and posts it all over the web?

Myself, I’m not willing to constantly be looking over my shoulder because of the possibility that x, y, or z may happen because I’m too open. If it does, I’ll deal with it then. That’s how I feel personally; others have different comfort levels.

I think this sort of thing is absolutely sick, especially coming from insurance companies, but not altogether surprising. I wonder how it will shake out, though, because I can’t imagine that making a determination to cease coverage on basis of a mere photograph is legal and would hold up in court.