Cybertrail

I was reading an article from popsci.com about an experiment trying to be anonymous for a week. It was pretty interesting. I am old enough to have read Orwell’s 1984 when it was still well in the future. I remember thinking how impossible and terrifying it was that there would be a time when your every move would be traceable. Today is that day. At work, every keystroke is tracked and can be brought back up. On line, every websearch, every site you visit and everything you do at that site is residing on a server somewhere. You are photographed by surveillance many if not most places you go. When surveillance cameras don’t get you picture, some interested bystander with a cell phone is snapping a record.

Early in my experience working with computers I discovered that there is a LOT of info online about me and most other people. Not all of it is accurate and certainly, not all is up to date. So I researched how to get rid of the old records and found out that I could spend some time contacting the servers that host that information. The problem is, they got it somewhere, public town records, public hospital records, public employment records, etc, and if I ask them they will take it out of their database but it will bounce back the next time they search for information. I would need to find out where they got their information and request anonymity and that might not be possible if they are public documents. If the info is inaccurate I would need to prove it, etc., etc.

So, what do we do? Not much. It is a trade off but privacy is slipping away from us at a rapid rate. If we choose to live in our society we trade privacy. This is a concept that has little meaning for children born in the digital age. I discuss it with them regularly but they see no need for concern. It makes me question where we are going? Will all be transparent? Is that okay? What do you think?