Last December, The Pew Internet & American Life Project put out the results of a provocative survey entitled Digital Footprints: Online identity management and search in the age of transparency.
Compiled by Mary Madden, Susannah Fox, Aaron Smith, et. al., you can view a PDF of the Digital Footprint report here. The survey spotlighted the question "Are internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprints." Respondents revealed:
* 47% have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago.
However, few monitor their online presence with great regularity.
* Just 3% of self-searchers report that they make a regular habit of it.
* 74% have checked up on their digital footprints only once or twice.
* Fully 60% of internet users say they are not worried about how much information is available
about them online.
* Similarly, the majority of online adults (61%) do not feel compelled to limit the amount of
information that can be found about them online.
I found the survey provocative not because we have digital footprints but more importantly, not many people are thinking about it.
Indeed, most internet users are not concerned about the amount of information available about them online, and most do not take steps to limit, govern or direct that information.
Active Digital footprints are one thing. Your passive digital footprint, or digital shadow, however, is an even more obscure set of data and quite another thing altogether. It may include things like:
* your high school or elementary school photo
* your prescription medicines - uploaded for storage by pharmacists
* your driver's license records
* zabasearch records
* your college transcripts
* your charitable organizations memberships
* races or competitions you have been registered in
* boats, trains and other forms of transportation you have used
* tax records
* mortgage records
* voter records
* PTA and school newsletter mentions
and most importantly, for our discussion, your tweets and your @replies.
Better search your exact Twitter user name right now and every twitpic that has your @name attached to it, like this one of me I found on page 1 of a google search. Fortunately, it was put up by a friend and basically with permission but in the Age of Transparency there will be great loss of privacy. I know of quite a handful of online photos that are up on Twitter and the person in the photo is unaware of their existence, much less their searchablity.
We should also likely check out our accounts at Dodgeball, Jaiku, Pownce, Plurk, Spoink and a list of others.
The Age of Transparency is upon us. Accountablity vs. loss of privacy? What are the pros and cons for you?
-- Cynthia Ware, The Digital Sanctuary
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