Does it worry you that everything you write, what you do, what your finances are, what your house is valued at, how old you are, where you live, your phone number, everything is out there on the Internet?
Every so often I google my name and am stunned at what's there. Letters I wrote to the Chicago Tribune are there. Everybody I'm connected to is there. My blog is definitely out there. It's so easy to find me. It's gotten even easier in the past year.
I try to keep some anonymity by leaving out my last name, etc. But it doesn't matter. There is no privacy anymore.
I saw this Google Maps car with that ominous looking camera on the roof. It will be updating all the streets in my neighborhood, I'm sure.
Anyone can find us.
I don't have anything I absolutely need to hide, but it's such a strange George Orwell-Big Brother type feeling to it.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
Every so often I google my name and am stunned at what's there. Letters I wrote to the Chicago Tribune are there. Everybody I'm connected to is there. My blog is definitely out there. It's so easy to find me. It's gotten even easier in the past year.
I try to keep some anonymity by leaving out my last name, etc. But it doesn't matter. There is no privacy anymore.
Anyone can find us.
I don't have anything I absolutely need to hide, but it's such a strange George Orwell-Big Brother type feeling to it.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
Kay, you might feel paranoid as an individual but Israel feels paranoid as a nation when it comes to Google Street View. Many fear that this and Google's aerial maps are just what terrorists need to plan their next attack.
ReplyDeleteHowever, just two days ago our Justice Ministry announced its decision to allow the controversial Google Street View service to run in Israel.
Google Israel will provide an online service for Israelis to opt out of the service by demanding that Google blur all images of their homes, license plates and themselves.
More details at
http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=234932
and
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4112314,00.html
The talkbacks there give you an idea of people's anger at the decision to allow Google to photograph.
Can't say I blame u kay... The worse place for someone to dig up info are on blogs... I was told years ago- never post a photo of yourself, or family... I had a friend who did and she found her photo swiped and put on another site... or they can photoshop and put a head on another body... Never say where one lives, show photos of your home, car, etc... What I am not too thrilled about is that if you own property- that info is on the internet.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a different world these days, and privacy is a thing of the past. I didn't realize how many people actually read my blog until I ran into a complete stranger on a hike who knew us all... by name!
ReplyDeleteGoogle Street View is a way for crooks to find the most vulnerable among us, and I don't like it one bit.
Dina's comment is very interesting.
ReplyDeletePrivacy is such a concern these days, Kay you are right.
I was also interested in Dina's comment. Yes, privacy of any sort seems to be a thing of the past and it is out of our control to do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteGosh -- I've never had a blog or Facebook account, and I just googled and "Bing"ed my first and last name -- it even shows a pic of my duplex. I think some info. is from the state license board. Scary! DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Pandora's box is open. There are no secrets any more. By the way, when I discovered street views I went back to the home I lived in from the age of five to 15. It was a wonderfully nostalgic ride as I traced our old home, the park where I used to play, the library I rode to on my bike, the old movie theater, town hall, etc., etc. It was all still there and hadn't changed that much.
ReplyDeleteKay;
ReplyDeleteBefore I started blogging and I googled myself,...nothing.
Now with blogging and Facebook, I'm out there too.
I try to find ways on keeping a little of my privacy...HA!
Oh the pros and cons of internet ! I too had privacy concerns before but now getting used to the fact as it is too late to think about it now .We are exposed :(
ReplyDeleteThese days, we are about as anonymous as the Washington Monument. I have been easy to find for a long time. When we refinanced our house, I found I had about 15 names. I kept changing them (using different tags) to confuse the "spies." How nutty is that?
ReplyDeleteI tell myself, when our ancestors lived in small villages, they all knew everything about everyone else, and this is not that different, is it? Dianne
yikes thats scary huh,, I guess we're all in it together now as bloggers,, lets just hope we don't see ourselves in photos with our heads glued on some one esles body,,but if they do,,, I'd like a skinnier body please,,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting...shall we just say Google is evil?
ReplyDeleteL.
Oh, I don't care anymore. I really don't. If Barack Obama is in the public eye and under intense scrutiny, why should I quibble over the little info there is about me?
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a sign of the times. Can't say I'm that happy about it, but then if I was that concerned, I guess shouldn't have started blogging. But then I never thought things would go to the extent they have. I have googled my kids -- who don't blog -- and I could find them, too???? Who knows???? Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Yes, if we were that concerned about it, we wouldn't have started blogging.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted the world to read what I write, so it's fine by me, and I have nothing to hide. Nobody is going to write about me in a supermarket tabloid, and no one is going to pretend to be me in order to rob those supermarkets, either.
I just hope, if the world is going to come calling, they wait until right after my lovely cleaning lady has left, on a day when I don't have a head cold, and when I'm actually dressed.
On Google Street View, if I manipulate the image to see it from just the right angle, I can see myself in the back yard in my pyjamas. How about that?
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
The things you described are exactly why my husband does not really support my blogging. He thinks I am putting too much info about us out there.
ReplyDeleteBut I can´t stop now. hahaha
I'm pretty careful about putting personal information on my blog. When I started it I was working, and I did not want casual viewers to know too much about me or my family.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad these days that I haven't been too forthcoming about my family and so on, although I certainly love reading about the doings of others and often wish I could share photos of kids and grandkids, etc.
There is a private sphere for everyone that needs protection, I think.
As to financial info, etc that's a lost cause, whether you divulge information on the Internet or not.
Iceland has an interesting program called icelandic book where everyone's info is available to icelandic citizens-family names, ages, addresses, etc. Seems some wives have even discovered their husbands have other children not claimed by them. I call that a real invasion of privacy but it does allow them to find their cousin and extends back into their ancestral lines...lol!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm probably on some right wing whacko's hit list.
Dina clears this RIGHT up!
ReplyDeleteHide in plain sight - look harmless...
Israel doesn't have this privilege...
Aloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
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No you are not paranoid, I often think the same, in fact that's why I quit Facebook!
ReplyDeleteI hear you. There are times when I wonder if a blog is a good thing for that reason, but I realize that we are all easy to find these day no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI once went on Google map and was able to clearly see my house and the neighbor's car out front.
I know t's true, but I just don't think about it much. I guess I'm not paranoid enough to think someone would use this info to do me harm. Call my Pollyanna, I guess.
ReplyDeletePeople gotta do what it takes on their own part about how much to post on the Internet to preserve a semblance of privacy. Although that's on voluntary basis, what is not wise is to post other people's info on their pages, say which clubs they belong to, or where this or that party works, without using a fictitious name or an acronym, reverse alphabets for example, for a layer of privacy. I was appalled after reading a blogger write, "Bert" said this and that about sumpthing of a semi controversial personal circumstance. While we might not know who Bert is, other people in the same circle would.
ReplyDeleteI'm from an earlier era of blogging when the bandwidth was too slow to post pictures much less your own mug shot and besides very few would do if it had been possible because of being paranoid, imagined or real, from the exposure, and the attitude has carried on to this day. Plus, I write commentary on my blog and I realize some visitors may not agree with my opinions to a point where they're offended and might hold more than bad thoughts against me. Though bad incidents are fortunately very rare, at least the ones we get to hear about, it's never ever wise to disregard the usual caveats while you're getting carried away raving or ranting about the topic du jour. Never ever post pictures of your front yard. Or as you already advised your last name.
oh, I just remembered something topic related. People have gotten around the too much personal info issue by setting up private blogs that requires registration or passwords for access. As Martha Stewart would say, "that's a good thing." There the author could even publish duplicate posts but with more in depth details that he wouldn't post on his regular blog because either no one would find the nuances interesting or the author would be divulging too much personal things. For example the author had a get together with relatives and he posted the highlights about it on the regular blog, few pics, few captions. In the private blog's version the narrative of the get together would include more personal stories, etc., and even the relatives that wouldn't think of commenting on the regular blog, would be at ease submitting their personal recollections of the occasion.
ReplyDelete