Overexposed

It seems that panic is back in fashion, drummed up over yet another social networking site that aggregates information that is already in full view of the public, and users are being coaxed (by the media, as well as the company itself) to sign up and "claim" the profiles so that they can see what is being published about them, and perhaps exercise some modicum of control.

Like all fashions, panic goes away and comes back again a few years later. It's been going on ever since telephone directories went online and people were horrified by the notion that their name, address, and phone number were "on the Internet" for anyone to see (never mind that the same information is already in the phone book, and hundreds of public records.)

In truth, assembling intelligence on individuals is a practice that began long before the Internet. The gathering of "files" on individuals goes back decades, or centuries, or even millennia. Roman emperors gathered intelligence on their enemies, political rivals, and even private citizens that might support or oppose their will. It probably goes back even further than that - so it's not a new threat at all.

What's different now is that some of the information is now more readily accessible to more people than it was before. Those whom you'd least like to have it - government agencies, marketing firms, employers, and others that might use it to exploit you or deny you access to opportunities - have had the same kind of information, and much more, at their fingertips for years.

The advent of social media - Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, LinkedIn, and more - gives people the opportunity to push out even more information about themselves and others whom they know, with the illusion of being able to control who gets to see it. But after so many incidents in which a computer glitch or a change in terms of service have exposed information that was submitted under the auspices of a privacy policy, who can trust in them anymore?

All in all, the sues and abuses of personal information leave me unable to come to a firm conclusion over whether it's a good thing or a bad thing - but whichever way I find myself leaning, I have to conceded that the availability of our personal details is a thing - a fact - that we'll all have to live with, for better or for worse.