> Funny I had never thought of doing a search on myself, though. Must be a
> blindspot.
> steve
The majority of people on the net do not appreciate that keystrokes never
die. The more of your life that is spent on the net, then the more that is
available for public inspection. As has been pointed out, doing a few Web
searches can turn up an incredible amount of information on some netizens.
And remember the Web is not the whole Internet. Many databases can only be
searched outside the Web.
At present you still need a bit of training before you can do efficient
searches. You need to know what search engines to use, how to ask the right
questions of them and where to look. (100,000 links with Bill Clinton in
them is not much use to anybody!) This is a chargeable service which some
investigators will provide - and it doesn't mean doing anything illegal,
like involving bribery and corruption. The Freedom of Information Act is a
goldmine for investigators. Your email addresses, postal address, phone
number, medical records, Social Security no, academic and job record can all
be obtained. Add on your Web site info, newsgroups, mail lists and chat
rooms and we're beginning to get the picture. Some parents have started
using services like this (or doing it themselves) to check out the latest
specimen that their teenage daughter has brought home as a boyfriend. (They
don't all have piercings, tattoos, earrings and leather jackets - some look
almost human). Flat sharers do it to check up on prospective flatmates,
list members do it to find out about new list members, etc.
And it is not only you. If you have children or partners on the Web, do you
know how much information they are giving away?
Come the fully Open Society, of course, then everyone will know what you had
for breakfast (and who you had breakfast with!) And, if you're interested,
you will be able to know the same about them.
BillK
Solipsism Warning:
The consumer should be aware that he or she may be the only entity in
the universe, and therefore that any perceived defects in product
quality are the consumer's own fault.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:36 MDT