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| Word Art |
All like to believe that privacy is in their hands, and theirs alone. How old we are, where we live, our phone numbers---those are our property.
Even though that is our hope, it is false.
Twenty years ago, I had a student who disturbed me. Of all my 600 students, this boy still stuck in my mind and I wondered what he did with his life. He worried me, scared me. Serial killer, torturer, terrorist? So out of curiosity, I typed in his name and where he lived then.
My mouth dropped when Spokeo, BeenVerified, PeopleLooker, and other sites opened up much of his life. I stopped. Nothing I really wanted to know, but if I wanted more, I could have.
Then I typed my own name, and all these sites knew my life. Facebook? Blogger? History of addresses and phone numbers? What my general income might be? If someone who was searching for me, someone I really did not want to find me, what would I do?
This is the state of your privacy and personal information. Do not think for one moment that this can be changed. All that info started to accumulate with your birth certificate.
It might be nice to look at your own name and find out what the world knows about your life.
I put in my blog on my phone for the first time the other day. My posts were on Pinterest. I do not have a pinterest account. How did this happen? Who put that there? There is no longer any privacy in our lives. I recall several years ago Caroline Kennedy wrote a book on privacy and everyone thought she was out of her mind and paranoid about our privacy no longer being private. I saw her on Oprah about this book so that is how long ago she wrote that. Interesting and scary don't you think?
ReplyDeleteDarn scary.
DeleteThere isn't a lot of me to be found. Two mentions in the local paper.
ReplyDeleteI am indeed the invisible woman. Which is fine.
You may think so, but if you have driver's license or any form of health insurance or medicare, you are out there.
DeleteThat's why it's always best to operate under a pseudonym on the internet, although that too is ultimately not foolproof if someone has your computer's IP address and can trace your internet activity.
ReplyDeleteGetting the IP address is ridiculously simple.
DeleteI have googled myself and yes, too much information is out there on the web. My daughter works in Big Data and what you find on the Internet is just the tip of the iceberg. They know what you like to eat, what meds you take and practically everything else about you. We have given them all this information knowingly and unknowingly.
ReplyDeleteThat is the dilemma. Knowingly or unknowingly--who knew.
DeleteHi Susan! You are so right on this and thank you for giving all of us a heads-up to double check on our data. I had two impersonators on Facebook before just a few months ago and it was the scariest. The profile looks so legitimate used my photo and school information. It's extra scary now because of the new law here in our country that if you talk against the government, you can be arrested without a warrant! And if that impersonator posts something negative pretending to be me, I'm doomed. What I did was deactivated my facebook when I made extra sure that the faker was taken down (It was hard for me to see it because I was blocked all along by that impersonator so I won't be able to see the profile, if not for my cousin who saw that fake one when he searched for me on the search box.) Facebook is very very unsecured and a lot of other apps and companies are starting to denounce their affiliations with it because there's been a lot of proof coming out that it's selling personal data.
ReplyDeleteI am with you. FB scares me. Go to this site: https://www.voomed.com/adam-ruins-everything-facebook-isnt-free-pay-identity/
DeleteI'm not familiar with PeopleLooker, but have used ZabaSearch -- even the search feature in Ancestry. Never thought about checking Facebook for an impersonator. Good thing I'm such a boring soul. I suspect even my Alexa has given up listening. *smile*
ReplyDeleteOk, Google must be the same. I insist that my husband keep from discussing our financial investments when "evelyn" (our name for google).
DeleteWhat's funny is I've gone into FB to see what stuff they think I like, and half of it was dead wrong. But yeah, I don't want to look, because I know it'll freak me out.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a world without a moral compass for the most part.
DeleteI am going to enjoy ignorant bliss. My FB is under a fake name, but you are right, anyone can get the skinny on us any time.
ReplyDeleteMy intention is that exactly.
DeleteYep ... it's true.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
No one is immune.
DeleteYes, they know, and thus it is more imperative than ever to live your life so if they say bad things about you, no one would believe it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. My goal is to be transparent so that Christ can be seen through me.
Delete"It might be nice", but I'm betting it would be more scary than nice and I really don't need that.
ReplyDeleteI never used to be scared of anything, rarely gave a thought to "Big Brother", but since three years ago that has changed. I've been scared for my own safety, although that has eased with the moving out of a certain neighbour, but I'm also scared now for the state of the world.
We have more to fear in so many ways. It feels sometime we are in a rowboat, on a calm lake. Below the surface is where the danger lies.
DeleteAlso I think anyone who has done any ancestry searching is leaving themselves wide open too.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. My searches are simple compared to those who are searching way back.
DeleteI just had this conversation with two of the four people on the internet who know my last name. I never want my real name there, but I'm sure it is somewhere. I must check at some point to find out. I'm glad you brought this up, because it's been on my mind lately, too.
ReplyDelete20 years ago I could not imagine something like this.
DeleteNah, I don't want to know. Some students made a fake Facebook page of one of the teachers, and he couldn't get it taken down. At least they weren't evil with it. They made him out to be superior to Chuck Norris!
ReplyDeleteHA! Chuck Norris. A good fake choice, they were creative.
DeleteI'm sure it would be about as boring as I remembered...
ReplyDeleteOh, your life has left an interesting trail.
DeleteI remember in the 1950s I heard from people that there was a computer in Switzerland that had allour info on it. At the time I was a computer repairman and knew that was just a rumor. At the time it was virtually impossible. Our giant computer that filled 1400sqft could not do as much as my 'watch' today. BUT NOW? yep it is possible.
ReplyDeleteGood one.
Sherry & jack (typing ain't no fun today! LOL
My husband was doing graduate work at Iowa St. University in Ames IA back in mid-1970s, and the "Super Computer" was famous. It was bigger than our house. Now our laptops hold more info than it ever could. Your watch must be an Apple something, and they are amazing.
DeleteI did a Google search for my name. I have a very unusual name. I was quite shocked that the first listings for me were obituaries! Actually two other women with the same name were the actual subjects.
ReplyDeleteNothing like an obit to spark searches up!
Delete