Look Ma, I'm on (surveillance) camera!
True, more and more people are uploading more and more digital materials to the
internet, but it turns out that our "digital footprint" is perhaps even
more of a "digital shadow". And, as the name suggests, this presence
isn't made up only, or even primarily, of "information" that we ourselves
are responsible for. A
post on the Read/Write Web blog sets the record straight:
Your shadow includes things like images of you on a
surveillance camera, your bank records, your retail and airline purchase records,
your telephone records, your medical database entries, copies of hospital scans,
information about your web searches, general backup data, information about
credit card purchases, etc.
John Gantz, Chief Research Officer and Senior Vice President of IDC explains
the digital shadow as simply "information about you," but what's
surprising about this shadow, he explains, is that "for the first time
your digital shadow is larger than the digital information you actively create
about yourself."
On the one hand, it's enough to make us paranoid, or to justify our paranoia.
Vast amounts of "information" are certainly
being stored, even if their actual value is highly questionable. On the other
hand, though our toilets may soon register how many times they're flushed, it's
dubious that anyone, other than the water commission during a draught, is going
to take much of an interest.
Go to: Holding on / Letting go.