Why you should watch what you say on the web

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has given an interview with the BBC in which he has said "consumers need to be protected against systems which can track their activity on the internet".  You can read the full story and view a video clip of the interview on the BBC website.

Stephen O'Donnell of AllJobsUK.com has sent me over an article he's written about internet privacy which I thought I'd share here:

So Sir Tim Berners-Lee believes individuals should be protected from their information being gathered by intelligent systems for commercial gain?  He is not alone in this, but I’m afraid we may already be beyond the point of legislating and regulating the use of the internet to protect worldwide users. 

What we can do, however, is educate ourselves about this enormous resource, into which so much information about ourselves is entered.  Much of it we provide ourselves, voluntarily, onto sites like Linkedin, Facebook, Bebo etc.  Increasingly we find ourselves contributing to discussion forums, on all kinds of subjects, feeling safe to make any comment behind an anonymous username.

An enormous amount can, and is, gained from such communication, but we do need to be aware that anyone's eyes can alight on what we write - not just our intended readers.  Now don’t get me wrong, I like to have a rant, and occasional diatribe against my own personal annoyances. I do however do so in the knowledge that everything I write will ultimately be attributed to me, and the day may come, when I’ll have to answer for them. The internet is a wonderful thing almost entirely because of its lack of firm regulation. It’s entirely possible for any private firm with the funds (like Google) to spider or crawl every single page, and they do. The entire flow of traffic on the internet passes through a relatively small number of servers strategically situated worldwide. All of this traffic is addressed (IP's), and logs are kept. ISP’s like MSN, AOL, and the rest have databases that connect to your name and address. Consumer sites have databases on your shopping habits and more addresses. Kept apart from one another, this information may seem relatively inert, but what if someone somewhere was able to connect it all together?

Years ago, universities developed software to eliminate cheating, by comparing students papers, and identifying matches with papers already written. Matching the writing style of people online in the same way helps the CIA identify potential terrorists and criminals, who believe they can communicate anonymously online behind “blind usernames” and proxy servers. The development of the Internet is accelerating at a rate very few civilians are aware of. The ability to connect all of this will very soon be commercially available (at a price), and ultimately after be available to all. Your grandchildren will be able to read everything you have written.

With the knowledge that everything written on the internet is stored, cached, and backed-up, from at least 1995 onwards, we must surely be disabused of the notion of anonymity, no matter how sneaky we think are being, behind that proxy server, using a strange username, and temporary email address, from an internet cafe. Rapists and murderers are being convicted today on DNA evidence for crimes committed 30 years ago. They couldn’t have predicted the science that would later catch up with them. 

Be yourself online, be it nice, nasty, provocative or whatever version of yourself you are happy to be fully identified with. If people are losing their jobs today, for what they post on Facebook, how much more will be able to be found in even just 18 months time? Each and every keystroke that you make, before clicking the Submit button, is there forever. They will know who and what you are, and they won’t need to try too hard to find out.

Comments

[Andy Headworth]

What Stephen says I think is very apt. But to be fair, people must know that as soon as the 'enter' button is pressed, any input is there for the world to see!
For example, as amusing as Peter Gold's blog is, I just wonder how some of his 'acid tongued' posts will read in a few years time!! (Mind you Peter does have a skin like a Rhino, so does he really care anyway??!!)
People's memory can be short and long forgotton, but Google's is lifelong!!

[Louise Triance]

It's intersting that you mention Peter as he did spring to my mind when Stephen sent the article over. However, I'm pretty sure that he practices as Stephen suggests and is prepared to stand by every word he writes.

He's actually written something today that's related to this topic - http://blog.hirestrategies.co.uk/erecruitment/2008/03/rip-the-disappo.html#more. Worth a read

[Kelvin Nikkel]

It is NOT only when you press the ENTER button when the world sees your information. Sometimes when you just visit a site, your personal information that you have stored on your computer gets kidnapped! Sometimes it is just held, but quite often it goes out to the highest bidder.

There are ways in which you can protect yourself though. Check out www.optmypc.com for FREE information on how to do that!