Something we've missed

Maybe I'm not the only one, and someone else picked up on this - but I haven't seen mention of it in the blogs I read. I certainly didn't read every post in either the protest or the removal thread, so it could have landed there for all I know.

RealID changes have been removed For Now.

Now, I don't want to frighten anyone, but let's look at the proposed rollout of RealID - specifically what was changing and the limitations of the changes.

• Your Name would be used on all upcoming forum posts on the new Cataclsym/SC2 forms.
  
• This change was not retroactive, meaning older posts on the WoW forums would be unaffected, due to a technical reason (and probably some legal as well).

These are the facts, and they are uncontested. Now, here's the wriggly fish that it seems has slipped through the cracks.

• In the public letter announcing the reversal of policy, Mike still stated that there are plans for RealID in the future.
• The new forums are still going in, this means the technology that would have allowed them to use your Real Name (dun dun duuunnnnn), will be in place.
  
• In place of "Your Name", you'll now have a unique handle with a game ID. Something I think most folks agreed was an acceptable compromise.
• The EULA/ToC still state that they can share your personal information.

Now, while I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist here, I just want to point out the one little thing that I think folks are overlooking. It is a single database field to switch from displaying your Handle/GameID to your RealID. That's it, just toggle from displaying field A to field B, and presto-changeo. Your name is out there.

Conclusion

I'd love to say that I can't see Blizzard doing this, but who knows any more? It's not that I don't trust Blizzard, it's that I don't trust anyone. It's not personal, it's just business baby.