Dana,
Very interesting post.
I have to disagree with one point. I don't think that Schmidt's comment was stupid in the least. It shows that he was a ware of the unique desire for both fame and privacy, and understood that many people would go to great lengths (such as changing their name) to try and have it all. That's not stupid. It might even be thought of as insightful. (If you were both drunk at a party.)
But the comment was still terribly naive, as you point out. As technology progresses, even changing your name to disown your past would likely be futile.
Consider, we already have consumer level tools that can search the Internet and identify faces. Additionally, researchers are working on algorithms that can detect whether someone wrote a particular piece of prose by looking at its style and word choice. Some of the research tools are quite accurate and I've heard that plagiarism software might begin to incorporate them. Of course, they will only get better with time; which, of course, means that people can track your presence via your writing.
To say nothing of tracking us by our associations. I don't particularly like Facebook, so I don't use it. However, my family absolutely loves it. So, I have an account.
The other day when I signed into Facebook, I was mortified to find that I had been tagged in some 15 pictures. One family member had been cleaning the house and found a box of photos that spanned twenty years. She, naturally, posted them all and then sent links to to the people who were in them. These pictures included childhood antics that should not only be forgotten, but any evidence should be thoroughly destroyed. Even though I'm absolutely passive on Facebook, a stranger could find all kinds of information about me including quotes, stories and pictures. (Some of which are simply humiliating.) This simply goes to show that I can be stalked by the evidence of my passing.
As more aspects of our lives move to the digital realm and as we generate more real time data, and as that data gets broadcast via the Internet the problem is going to get worse. There is no privacy. Which, of course, means that every mistake, misstep, utterance and action can be put under the microscope. Nor will the account of the error always be yours. If you've lived a ... colorful ... life, there may be serious incentive to disown the past and start over. I think that's all that Schmidt is saying. Nor is it something that most people seem to realize, yet.
Unfortunately, it is also probably impossible.
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
