Great thoughts, thanks!

Here's a bit I'd like to expand on. You write:

"In these cases, I don’t single out the people I am challenging, but rather, protect their identity."

I think in general this is the way to go, though interestingly, I had that backfire on me once, sort of.

A while back, I wrote an article about a topic that is somewhat controversial in LGBTQ circles. To illustrate one of my points, I paraphrased something a prominent LGBTQ advocate had written written a few days before, then explained why I disagreed. I did not name them, because as you say, I did not want to single them out. I wanted to talk about the idea, not the person.

They read my article and took offense, contacting me privately to tell me I had misrepresented their position and they wished I had quoted and cited them.

I amended the article to include a direct quote and a citation, and to add a parenthetical quote from the writer explaining why they believed I had misrepresented their thinking.

That seemed to satisfy everyone, and all's well that ends well, but it just goes to show that even the best thought out personal policies don't apply in every situation.