What utter nonsense.
You didn't think the matter was 'utter nonsense' two years ago. You offered an apology and acknowledged there was a 'very slight risk' which prompted you to remove the country identifiers. Or didn't you mean any of what you said back then?
You already describe the real problem - people posting too much personally identifying information in their posts.
I don't believe anyone who has genuine and serious concerns about hiding their identity goes round posting things that reveal who they are.
As has already been pointed out, if members had been given notice, upon joining, that their country would be publicly displayed, those from smaller countries would likely have modified what they revealed about themselves. It's one thing for a poster to out themselves by being careless. It's another thing entirely for a forum to willfully display a piece of personal information that a poster wishes to remain private.
I have been on numerous forums over the past 15 years - both pro-JW and JW-critical. NOT ONE has required me and other registered users to publicly display location or country. It has usually been an opt-in system like on the old JWD.
I share EdenOne's anxiety - not just for myself, but for him and others from small countries who trusted this place and thought they could keep certain information about themselves confidential.
I would be less concerned if the flags were not going to be applied to everyone's posts retrospectively.
If you are determined not to give posters the choice and have country identifiers displayed by default, can you only attach them to future posts and give due warning so that some of us will know not to post here any more under our current names? Can you at least accommodate us that way?