Ever since I've been in London, I've been on this totally stupid getting in touch with people kick - totally stupid. I got in touch with my Godmother, who, unbeknownst to me, hates my mother (my middle name is actually hers - ironies). Other people haven't gotten back to me, and it's made me generally more depressed than before I got in touch with these assholes.
And surprisingly my cousin (MY COUSIN'S BIRTHDAY IS TODAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY C. A. B.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) emailed me to tell me he has been going through similar nonsense with Myspace - the "I gotcha" of the Internet. I hate myspace. No anonymity; everyone knows you, can find you, and drudge up crap you don't want to talk about.
People from high school who picked on you, ex-boyfriends that you will always remember why they became EX, and other nuisance crap. I had a myspace once - and when someone asked did I go to their high school, I said, enough - I like being FMD, and not a damn person knows who the hell I am (Except the people who count).
So recently, I got into an argument about Internet privacy - and I've had my own run in with Internet privacy some time ago on my own blog with some girl who had issues with my comment. She said it was "private", yet she listed her name, occupation, location, and her stupid ideas for others to critique. I have tons of ideas that the vast majority of the world would disagree with, but in the spirit of freedom of speech, I do not moderate my comments, and I am open to criticisms, because, hell, what's the internet for then?
The brunt of the recent argument about privacy was surrounded around that one key question that everyone and their mother has been saying since the first public search engine in 1993 - how much privacy can one expect?
Employers are looking up peoples credit scores online to see if they're good candidates, checking myspace pages to see if they "fit the image of their companies", surfing blogs to find out peoples political views - and that has become common place, sanctioned behavior.
Is it right? We don't know if it's right, because many times we don't know it's happening! It's a scary proposition that when I apply to medical school, there is a chance that University College London or Emory could be surfing my blog and find out I have a rock n roll penchant, which could be a bit problematic for their image, or that I have a tattoo on my back (which I don't), or I hate Bush (which I do).
The issue of privacy on the Internet usually surrounds itself around peoples personal right not to have other people comment on their ideas - but no one seems to be discussing the fascist movement of the Corporate World to watch us even before we work for them, even when we think its private - on our online "spaces" we create, thinking we are inviting only our peers.
If the Internet is defined as phone conversations, therefore private, why are we letting corporations tap our lines? Isn't that spying - illegal search and seizure? Why isn't anyone talking about it!
The annoying people in our lives found us online - and it's a nuisance, but criminal or lacking in etiquette it was not. I found my Godmother online - she invited people to find her, and I invited whatever nonsense came back to me. But corporations, even with our consent, surfing online to find out your views is truly scary.
And don't give me that, "they get permission" bullshit - that "permission" they receive in writing when they interview is purely coercion - if you're on an interview, you need the money, so you would probably agree to an olive oil enema if they suggested it.
We need to find ways in which to protect ourselves from this growing fascism, especially today, when a few clicks could cost you financial and emotional security.
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