When Public Records Are Too Public
By Online Security Authority on Jun 25, 2007 in ID theft, Online Security Authority, Privacy
Open Records Are an Established Tradition, But Does Internet Access Call for a Change?
June 25, 2007
The Web wasn’t created to appeal to our sense of voyeurism. It just feels that way sometimes.
I’m not talking about dirty pictures, but the ability the Web’s given all of us to snoop on our friends, colleagues and neighbors, from Googling the new guy in the next cube to finding out what the people next door paid for their house to seeing which neighbors have given money to which candidates and parties.
Such behavior runs the gamut from generally acceptable nosiness (we’re a nation of self-Googlers, after all) to mildly gauche (in New York City discussing what apartments cost is practically a sport) to creepy (keep your nose out of my politics). As with all questions about Internet privacy and personal information, there are generational differences at work — if you came of age blogging and being Googled, someone seeing you gave $100 to MoveOn.org might not be the biggest deal. Read more.
Public records have always been, well, public, but do you find the sheer accessibility of these documents worrisome? Should we be concerned that these very personal documents can be unearthed at the mere touch of a button? What implications does this have for our society as a whole? Join me and other Online Journal readers in the Real Time forum.
OSA Editorial Comments:
I don’t think you want to know how Public our records are but we have to try and control how much information we give out, and to keep as much personal info personal, as we can! Another great resource: http://pibuzz.com/
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Bill Wardell
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