Operations security

Operations security (OPSEC) is a term describing the protection of sensitive information. Originally coined by the US military, it has been adopted in other sectors such as information technology (IT).

In the context of kink, it means preventing personally identifiable information from being exposed in a way that would compromise one's social life, profession, and personal safety.

Personally identifiable information

Personally identifiable information (PII) is any information that can be used to identify an individual, either alone or when paired with another piece of information. These can include:

• Legal name
• Address
• Phone number
• Email address
• Birthday or age
• Face picture
• Backgrounds of publicly identifiable locations
• Physical body markings, such as tattoos, piercings, and scars

Risks

Publicly posting PII makes one more vulnerable to doxing, where their information is disclosed publicly without consent. This can cause consequences such as loss of friends, job termination, and threats to personal physical safety. Even the reflection of someone's face on latex or in the background can pose a risk; facial identification tools are widely available and can sometimes work on even partially obscured faces.

It's important to understand that, as with many things, the risks can vary widely among individuals; some people live very open lives and may even have a career where being openly kinky is acceptable, but others may not.

Mitigations

• Avoid posting PII through public channels such as social media sites and large group chats
• Strip metadata from photos
• Cover backgrounds to make them unidentifiable
• Cover recognizable body markings, especially tattoos and scars
• Review what is visible in reflections; this is a concern not just with mirrors, but also with other reflective surfaces like latex