# Prevent users from changing their Full Names
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-users-from-changing-their-full-names/261337
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [April 11, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-users-from-changing-their-full-names/261337 "2023-04-11T16:21:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@AriesFR](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AriesFR)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-users-from-changing-their-full-names/261337/21 "2023-04-12T21:33:44Z")
OK, I just disabled safe-mode for non-admins.
_ **For now** _, I don’t need absolute security in blocking the name change. The people who are playing with the rules are not technically savvy enough to even know what the development tools in their browser is made for, and they have absolutely no idea what html or CSS are. So, to me, the CSS method is a great initial solution.
If I can make it still a bit more difficult next week by adding this as a plug-in, then the security level I have is more than enough for my current needs. In any case, my forum is fully closed to non-members, so in the worst case, I can even have a disciplinary measure voted by the board and ban them from the forum. I just want that the option to change their name is not tantalizingly present on their profile.
> [@MikeNolan](#):
>
> It does not sound like you are doing anything to authenticate the full name your users provide when they sign up. So if they change it from Bob Jones to Sam Smith, how do you know either name is theirs?
And yes, I have a manual approval that is performed after I have checked that the members are valid and the forum is by invitation only.
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### Author:  [@Joseph\_Hansen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Joseph_Hansen)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-users-from-changing-their-full-names/261337/22 "2023-05-02T14:31:00Z")
> [@AriesFR](#):
>
> And yes, I have a manual approval that is performed after I have checked that the members are valid and the forum is by invitation only.
> [@AriesFR](#):
>
> On the forum we manage, although we give a lot of leeway on the username, we required (in the terms of use) that the users provide their full names and do not change them except to reflect legal name changes.
This sounds like a privacy nightmare. Have you considered the implications of having people’s legal names in a database along with their IP address and email address? If someone malicious accessed your database, they could easily wreak havoc on your users’ personal, offline, lives with that particular combination of information
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### Author:  [@Ed\_S](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ed_S)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-users-from-changing-their-full-names/261337/23 "2023-05-02T15:58:51Z")
> [@AriesFR](#):
>
> The people who are playing with the rules
Out of interest, what is it that you are defending against? Impersonation? Using the name field to offend people? Hiding behind a pseudonym?
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### Author:  [@AriesFR](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AriesFR)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-users-from-changing-their-full-names/261337/24 "2023-05-02T16:30:56Z")
Hi,
> [@Ed\_S](#):
>
> Out of interest, what is it that you are defending against
I’m not “defending” against anything, so much as wanting that making sure that people are known for who they are. We have a number of people of all ages, and if it mostly isn’t confusing for the younger folks, older people in the club often have problems relating to pseudonyms. With this system, we have the best of both worlds, allowing usernames to be chosen (within decency limits) and full names to be available.
> [@Joseph\_Hansen](#):
>
> This sounds like a privacy nightmare
Yes, and no. First, this is a private - by invitation only - forum. There is very little of interest of this database except a name and an email address. Of course, we can never be sure that the DB doesn’t fall in the wrong hands, but we spent a reasonable amount of time securing the site (and the DB). There are other DBs with much greater value, especially for personal information, than this one. And finally, the inscription on the forum, if strongly recommended to be advised of the club’s activities, is not mandatory.
In the end, we flagged both the risk and the danger of it as low.
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