We have all seen the classic movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves where the Evil Queen asks the Magic Mirror her famous question:
"Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"
In this day and age, I think it would be more appropriate to ask:
"Google, Google on the computer screen, what juicy and incriminating information can be seen?"
Clever... I know.
When reading Pew Internet Study on Our Digital Footprint, I kept seeing the word "footprint" being stressed over and over again. So, what is this footprint and how the heck do I get rid of it? According to this study, a footprint is any personal information or activity that is archived on the Web and can be found on a search engine.
WHAAAAAATTT?!?!
I thought wire-tapping was bad, now we are being "web-tapped" too? If that isn't bad enough, we have to worry about digital-resumes screwing us over at interviews for potentially life-changing jobs. Yep, that's right, companies are now replacing interviews and references with Google. (At this time, please search through your Facebook profiles, as well as Myspace profiles, and delete any incriminating information, thanks.)
This has gotten a little scary. Before this Web 2.0, predators would actually have to work to track us down. Now, it is all through a couple of clicks on the Internet. The worst part about it is that we may be setting ourselves up for these culprits. Social networking sites are painting such a perfect picture of us, that we don't people stalking us to know where we will be and when. All people need to do is check our status or our events to try and find us.
I agree with the authors of that Pew study when they say that PRIVACY IS DEAD! It is gone. Poof! Bye-Bye! Yet, we as responsible "citizens" must try and filter the content of what is getting on the Web. So, the moral of the story is... maybe people don't need to know where you are every second of the day and maybe you should reconsider tagging those pictures from downtown Thursday. After all, it might come back and bite you in places where you don't want to be bitten.
Disclaimer: So, it took pretty long to post this blog and I apologize for the lack of links and pictures but my computer has short-circuited a number of 6 times since yesterday and the computer techs at school can't seem to find what is wrong with it. I have been writing this blog on my Sprint Treo, which makes it hard to add in these fun touches. On a lighter note, I will be getting a new computer next week so I will fix this blog then.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment