How secure is your data on the internet? 

How "hidden" are you when you use a screen name?

Not very.  Matter of fact, not at all.

The Indianapolis Star has published an amazing story about cyber sleuthing and the vapor trail we all leave in the ether.  The story involves a video which has attracted national attention, and national scorn (at least in most quarters).  It shows a little boy singing an anti-gay song in church, concluding with the line "Ain't no homos gonna make it in heaven,"  to the whoops and cheers of the congregation.  For the video clip, CLICK HERE.

The church is the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle in Greensburg, Indiana.

But equally stunning is how the YouTube video went from 16 views, to nearly a million is the story of how the church and the person who originally posted it were identified by "some guy with a computer in Texas." 

"Mike" - the newspaper would not identify his last name due to threats he has received - stumbled on the video while doing research into the anti-gay sermons of a preacher in North Carolina.  He followed the posting "FunnyMan1972" through Spokeo.com and Veromi.com, to locate the poster in Greensburg.  Then using information about the man's children, and cross-linking with Facebook friends lists, he found the man's identify.  With further research, he located a photo of the interior of Apostolic Truth Tabernacle and matched it to the YouTube video.

Its a piece of sluething worthy of Sherlock Holmes or Harry Bosch -- or maybe more closely to Lisbeth Salendar, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  To read the entire story, CLICK HERE.