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Name

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As with other well known celebrities, Mr. Marlinspike’s “real name” and birth date (and other biographical information) should be listed. Simply because he is a “security researcher” – a polite term for “hacker” – does not mean he has a special opt-out for accurate Wikipedia data. 132.3.65.68 (talk) 15:38, 8 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed, a real name should be included, Mr. Marlinspike should not be the recipient of special dispensation that others do not enjoy. Johnny Squeaky (talk) 06:44, 17 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
yeah maybe i'm a dick for this, but according to allegheny county property records, his real name is MIKE BENHAM. no middle name/initial, not 'michael,' not sure why. 151.201.59.225 (talk) 15:38, 8 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
If you weren't making this up, it wouldn't make you a "dick," it would make you a "snitch." Salaman88 (talk) 05:01, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
this listing also makes it quite obvious, http://wingnutrva.org/2011/08/10/new-library-contributions-from-the-university-of-michigan/ 151.201.59.225 (talk) 15:43, 8 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I think this must be another pseudonym, since it's a transliteration from Arabic meaning roughly "even behind the camels." A friend once told me that they saw Moxie's government ID, which had the name "Matt Rosenfeld" on it. Salaman88 (talk) 08:04, 11 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that he shouldn't have "a special opt-out" for identifying data. Everyone should have the same option. —Tamfang (talk) 04:55, 14 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In the Slashdot story, Mr. Marlinspike reveals "Matthew" as his first name, but we still need to source "Rosenfeld". =//= Johnny Squeaky 03:34, 23 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Rosenfeld" is completely unsourced and should NOT be part of a wikipedia article. If you google, you'll find dozens of web sites that cite wikipedia on this "fact". Even "Matthew" is debatable. Given that this person is intensely private, I doubt he would just give out his real first name in a public forum. More likely, Matthew is another pseudonym used to make a point, not his actual birth name.70.169.163.2 (talk) 17:45, 7 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Should we just remove it completely then? --Ronz (talk) 03:53, 22 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I think so. As much as I think the article should have his real name, the reference does only mention "Matthew" and not "Rosenfeld". The whole thing is a bit sketchy. My vote is to remove, unless someone want's to see if "the facts" can be ferreted out of the Intertubes... =//= Johnny Squeaky 18:30, 23 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article needs to make mention of the fact that Moxie Marlinspike is not his given (birth) name. It's possible that he made it legally an official pseudonym or even changed it through the court system, but I've never seen evidence either way. Point being, it MIGHT legally be his real name even though it's not his birth name, and it might not. He's done a very good job of keeping any association with his given name out of easily-accessed public records. Whisper Systems, INC was incorporated in Texas where you only have to list the name of the Registered Agent (who is often a 3rd party) in the public records. While I'm sure there are official legal records which would lead from Whisper Systems, INC back to his real name, I have no idea if they're publicly available or not. In any case, it would take a good bit of investigation and much of it would most likely have to be done by hand, off-line. 184.166.240.249 (talk) 08:51, 25 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Agree, we should have the real name, as with anybody else who has an article on Wikipedia. "Mike Benham" does seem plausible if you check Usenet postings: he was using this in 2002. 86.159.192.146 (talk) 23:49, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ugh, what a bunch of unethical jackasses. You can't just publish someone's real name publicly if it could cause them trouble. He doesn't want his name known for a reason. And I don't care if other people have their data posted, most of them already have already made their names publicly available, but if someone wishes to remain unknown then it's not ok for some wikipedia neckbeard to violate their privacy. 188.27.206.14 (talk) 16:17, 3 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

He doesn't "wish to remain unknown": he is a public figure, who posts widely-read stuff on the Internet and attends conferences. The govt already knows who he is, anyway; they stop him at airports. 86.164.200.121 (talk) 13:24, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Per legal transactions detailed @ https://www.dirt.com/gallery/moguls/tech/signal-moxie-marlinspike-house-los-angeles-1203414449/ & others linked @ https://www.reddit.com/user/alderwern/comments/ki4wmq/moxie_marlinspike_real_name_and_real_identity/, Mike Benham was correct @ birth, but now is changed legally to Moxie Marlinspike (with Matt Rosenfeld being an interim pseudonym). Anyone have any clarity? Moxie's back in the news, so it'd be great to have it accurate. TSamuel (talk) 12:13, 14 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

These are the sources advanced to claim a different birth name for Mr. Marlinspike:

  • Matt Smith, Saudi's Mobily Denies Asking for Help to Spy on Customers, Reuters, May 15, 2013 ("Matthew Rosenfield, who uses the pseudonym Moxie Marlinspike").
  • James McClain, Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike Buys Ultra-Mod Mar Vista Compound, Dirt.com (July 22, 2021) ("Born Mike Benham in Georgia but more commonly known by his Moxie Marlinspike pseudonym and also occasionally as Matthew Rosenfeld").
  • Various public records listing a person's name and street address with no clear link to our subject.
  • A now-unavailable blog post.

Per BLP, "Wikipedia includes full names . . . that have been widely published by reliable sources, or by sources linked to the subject such that it may reasonably be inferred that the subject does not object to the details being made public. * * * Consensus has indicated that the standard for inclusion of personal information of living persons is higher than mere existence of a reliable source that could be verified." Reuters is a reliable source. I'm unsure about Dirt.com ("DIRT is a tongue-in-cheek peek into the oft-clandestine real estate transactions of high-profile []or high-net worth people"), but it doesn't matter, since what we have falls short of the "widely published" criterion. Even if they were linked to Mr. Marlinspike, we are forbidden by BLPPRIMARY from using them: "Exercise extreme caution in using primary sources. Do not use public records that include personal details, such as date of birth, home value, traffic citations, vehicle registrations, and home or business addresses." That leaves only one plausible source for each purported name, which is far too little.

Despite what some others have claimed above, there is no presumption in favor of publishing personal information of living persons; on the contrary, there is a strong presumption in favor of their privacy to be overcome only by either voluntary, authenticated disclosure by the subject himself or by a chorus of reliable sources. We do not use original research to write Wikipedia articles, and we especially do not use it to disclose private facts about living persons. We also have no obligation to determine whether the name by which a subject is known is his "real" name.[1]

Accordingly, I am removing any mention of either of these names. Rebbing 20:29, 30 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Your rationale for removing the mentions, being that they are not substantiated by adequate, acceptable evidence, is unquestionably correct.
However, to argue that a person's name is private information of such order that it would bear withholding from an encyclopedia is an extreme exaggeration. 66.190.13.201 (talk) 23:38, 29 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

There are high quality sources for his name, including the likes of the BBC and Reuters. Why does it keep getting removed with spurious references to BLP? BLP requires: high-quality sources (which it has), needs to not violate laws (it doesn't), needs to be neutral (much more neutral than excluding it because of his desires), needs to be verifiable (from high-quality sources, as already mentioned), needs to not be original research (don't think BBC articles are user generated). In fact, judging these reliable sources to be inadequate based on your original research is what would violate BLP... DimeCadmium (talk) 19:02, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Since you didn't cite the BBC article you say mentions Mr. Marlinspike's birth name, I'll assume it was this:
That gives us two usable articles for the name (the Reuters and BBC articles), which is far less than BLP's requirement that it be "widely published" by reliable sources. Moreover, I think that there are good reasons to doubt the value of the BBC piece: it lacks a byline, was not professionally proofread, and lacks the sort of depth which would suggest that the author had carefully checked his background facts. Cf. STICKTOSOURCE ("As a rule of thumb, the more people engaged in checking facts, analyzing legal issues, and scrutinizing the writing, the more reliable the publication.").[2] When that article was published, our article used that name ("Matthew Rosenfeld, known as Moxie Marlinspike"), making this a plausible case of citogenesis.
It's not prescribed forbidden original research to investigate the veracity of sources and analyze their claims. Cf. OR ("This policy does not apply to talk pages and other pages which evaluate article content and sources . . . ."). Rebbing 03:28, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, two usable articles. Except for all the other ones listed here, and all the other ones you can find on Google. Just two. 🙄
His name is not, in fact, Moxie Marlinspike and the fact the article pretends it is is misleading.
I do enjoy that you've decided you're better at judging the reliability of the BBC than the rest of Wikpedia, though. Wikipedia:RSPBBC DimeCadmium (talk) 17:13, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
An assumed name is, according to the dictionary definitions and common usage, a name; and the sources cited in the article show no hesitation in referring to our subject as Moxie Marlinspike. (Most don't even mention that it's an assumed name.) The idea that only the name given on a person's birth certificate is his "real" name is a fiction, like the Hollywood trope of policemen reading arrestees their Miranda rights while leading them away.
All of the other sources referred to in this discussion fail either RS or BLPPRIMARY. Pointing out that the BBC is considered reliable doesn't address my criticism of this particular BBC article. Rebbing 06:32, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

May I suggest just mentioning that this isn't his birth name, and nothing else, perhaps with a big <!-- PLEASE STOP CHANGING IT --> comment? That seems to be the only thing all the sources agree on.
(Also, apologies to Rebbing for misspelling your name in my last edit summary.) ℰmi1y⧼T·C⧽ 03:56, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I don't object to adding the comment.
Greenberg (2016) states that he has a "different and far less interesting name on his birth certificate" and that "Moxie" was a childhood nickname. I'm weakly opposed to it, but I think it'd be permissible to mention that his name is not his birth name. How about this?
Personal life

Originally from the state of Georgia, Marlinspike moved to San Francisco in the late 1990s at age 18. The name Moxie Marlinspike is an assumed name partly derived from a childhood nickname.[1]

References
  1. Greenberg (2016); Wiener (2020).
Rebbing 06:32, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds good to me. ℰmi1y⧼T·C⧽ 07:25, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Done. Thanks for the suggestion. Rebbing 18:12, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Also added a stern comment near the top. Hopefully now we can all stop arguing about this. ℰmi1y⧼T·C⧽ 02:18, 14 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ In most of the the United States, an alias or changed name adopted even without official process may be used as a "legal name." See Julia Shear Kushner, The Right to Control One's Name, 57 UCLA L. Rev. 312, 326–328 (2009).
  2. ^ A similarly unsigned, unproofread piece about the death of Mr. Harry Reims repeats without qualification the dubious, disputed claim that Deep Throat grossed $600 million.
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"Institute for Disruptive Studies"

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Googling this mainly finds references to Marlinspike himself. What is it? Who runs it? Is it just a name he's made up for himself (and thus not really worthy of mention here)? Equinox ◑ 01:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It's "a lab devoted to privacy, anonymity and computer security" according to the source. I think its mention in an independent reliable source merits inclusion here. Kendall-K1 (talk) 04:23, 3 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
A year later and all the organic search results for it only return impersonators now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:E000:9FC0:4C:1597:EDB3:C528:A893 (talk) 20:13, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Nationality

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"Nationality: American". I dont think that is a nationality at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brujua (talk • contribs) 13:58, 27 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Personal life vs. Career

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" In 2004, Marlinspike bought a derelict sailboat and, with three friends, refurbished it and sailed around the Bahamas while making a "video zine" about their journey called Hold Fast." Does this belong in a section about his career?

Should perhaps we create a seperate category for Personal Life, such as many other biographical articles have, and include this there? 156.110.59.26 (talk) 15:39, 6 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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