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Privacy and the internet [message #46101]

Mon, 15 October 2007 17:32

saben

On fire!

Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537

Running in an election campaign has made me start to think about the potential repercussions of the internet. From livejournals to blogs to facebook, a lot of the younger generation, myself included, are leaving substantial footprints that could well come back to haunt them in the future.

Being a candidate for a small party I'm assuming I won't get much media attention, thank god. But if my party ever rose to prominence, I ever joined a major party or was elected it could be another story altogether.

Already the governing Liberal party unendorsed a 24-ish year old candidate for comments he made on his private blog criticising other well-known politicians. It was traced back to him and his private thoughts, written to friends, garnered at least a small amount of media attention. He wasn't going to win his seat, but it was enough to stop him even running.

What will this mean for the future, though? The current generation are leaving a footprint that internet archiving sites will have on record for years to come. It'll be far more accessible than dirt previously. The optimist in me thinks that perhaps as my generation become the politicians and CEOs it could mean a greater understanding that humans are fallible and a greater forgiveness towards the past misdeeds of our leaders.

But I'm sure that won't be the case. It'll come down to who has the best people working for them, capable of hiding the footprints.

If I had been preselected by my party for the Senate and by fate gotten a seat I would have asked Timmy to remove all my comments from this site. Views I've expressed here are far too controversial. Similarly I would have deleted my old live journals and political commentary from all websites I've been a part of. It would be too risky. Going into politics, or any large venture, business or otherwise it's necessary to have a fairly "clean slate".

Part of the problem is my name. It's too unique, too easy to find online. Another problem is that I've used my full-name on some websites along with my "Saben" handle. So if people search for Saben they are potentially able to find comments by me. If I had kept my handle and my real name totally distinct it might have been better. But even then it may have been possible to track me down through my real life friends.

Right now it's not important. I'm a nobody. But being a part of the election has made me acutely aware that if I ever become "somebody" I'm going to be playing a dangerous game. Even if I delete everything I've ever written there are sites like archive.org ready to spit it back at me. Who would have thought that my insecure ramblings as a teenager could come back to bite me later in life? I definitely never thought of that as I wrote them. And part of me is now scared of ever being more than a nobody. I was relieved when I wasn't chosen to stand in the Senate in case I was successful and had my name googled.

Edit: god I should proof read.

[Updated on: Mon, 15 October 2007 17:42]

Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
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		Privacy and the internet By: saben on Mon, 15 October 2007 17:32
		Re: Privacy and the internet By: timmy on Mon, 15 October 2007 18:06
		Re: Privacy and the internet By: saben on Mon, 15 October 2007 18:14
		Re: Privacy and the internet By: timmy on Mon, 15 October 2007 18:25
		Re: Privacy and the internet By: saben on Mon, 15 October 2007 18:31
		Re: Privacy and the internet By: unsui on Tue, 16 October 2007 01:42
		Don't be discouraging, Michael! By: cossie on Tue, 16 October 2007 02:50
		Re: Don't be discouraging, Michael! By: saben on Tue, 16 October 2007 04:00
		Re: Don't be discouraging, Michael! By: timmy on Tue, 16 October 2007 06:36
		Re: Don't be discouraging, Michael! By: Nigel on Tue, 16 October 2007 07:37
		Re: Privacy and the internet By: unsui on Tue, 16 October 2007 17:14

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