My Life Is an Open Book..

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. 

Adam Ruins Facebook

SEQ Legal

A rant is long overdue, so bear with me.

Internet security has always been an issue, and this issue becomes blaring when it affects millions of people worldwide.  This is not just about Equinax as one of many hacking invasions.

My daughter recently introduced me to "Adam Ruins...", a YouTube series where an incredible revelations about a variety of a broad scary vulnerabilities in today's societies. (While "Adam Ruins..." may or may not totally truthful, this one certainly must be.)

Here is one scary video that is applicable to my rant:

This is 6:20 in time, but well worth the watch.

For instance, I searched some sites to find a dress or something for my son's wedding.  Since then I have been inundated on Gmail, Blogspot and Facebook sidebars for outfits that may be of interest. Motorcycle parts? NextMD for migraines? IQ tests? (I am brilliant, a genius, by the way.)

Basically we live in a world where privacy is a rare, or even non-existent luxury. Even "going off the grid" is still not a guarantee.

Not much of a rant, but this is certainly one of outrage, anger, and most of all: fear.

I hope that this is accessible!  If not, paste "Adam ruins + YouTube" in your search.