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By Xavier Mohr
SLReports.net I logged into Second Life today for the first time in over a month. In short, it was what it was. Quite simply... after coming to the self-realization that I have not used Second Life for a long time, with no immediate plans to return to my old SL schedule, I wanted to deposit what Lindens (L$) I had left on my avatar into my SLCapEx account, so that I could do a little stock-trading. After updating my profile – for the third or fourth time this year – and logging off, I began thinking about my unfulfilled obligation to SL Reports... I have not written anything in a while... so here we are! But, what does an ex-Second Life resident write about that could possibly be of interest to a diverse little milieu of SL stock traders, finance gurus, nutzo immersionists, and other people equally as screwed up as I am? It was difficult, but after a bit of contemplation, I decided to play copy cat to iVentures Volitant and look at a real-life issue. For the last several weeks, I have been enormously concerned with an Internet-related issue... so much, in fact, that I am likely to begin lobbying my own state legislature for action in matters related to it. What is it, you ask? Well... online privacy.
We live in a world of great opportunity, unlimited technological capability, and instantaneous communications abilities for people living on opposite ends of the Earth. We have unrestricted access to endless archives of information on every subject imaginable, and can – at no cost – publish our own views, opinions, and research into any matter our fleeting thoughts deem worthy at a given moment. For good or ill, we also live in a world of increased transparency. Through sophisticated IP tracking, we can literally pinpoint website visitors' homes on streets half a world a way. We can back-trace anonymous comments, linking them to real-life identities to determine a person's cultural, political, family, personal, and employment backgrounds with just a few minutes time out of our busy schedules. Though many argue these to be good things, with all human achievement comes new dangers and new dramas. Those of us that have been behind the computer screen for a while remember the days when we could inflame forums, reply to content with controversial opinions, purchase items online, and even set up websites without leaving a single shred of evidence hinting at our real identities. That old way of the Web, I'm afraid, is a thing of the past. The comments we make at news sites like the very one on which I'm writing today, our Facebook and MySpace profiles, our blogs, Craigslist ads... they all leave records of a single moment's activities which can last 5, 10, or 15 years... or perceivably beyond the fading of our own lives. What does this mean for you? Anything you post online may be forever tied to your real-life identity. Even taking the precaution of posting the content anonymously is no longer sufficient. IP addresses can be back-traced, as can screennames and email addresses... any half-witted idiot with a little extra time on his hands can find out who you are, where you are, and what you do in real life with no extreme effort. But beyond the few-and-far-between nuts that may want to find you in real life, think of something else: your professional life. This, my friends, is where I draw the line with regard to what I can and cannot tolerate with regard to extreme Internet transparency. Let's say you submit a résumé to a great job that you know you would be just perfect for. With no legislative precedent preventing them, your potential employer can today perform web searches of your name, email, or IP address without your consent... before they ever even decide whether or not to call you back. That random political comment you made your Junior year in college... the religious column you used to write for your church newsletter... that off-color joke you posted on a humor forum... and even the hook-up ad you posted on a personals site... they are all ready and waiting for your potential employers to review them – even ones that may be years old, and no longer reflective of your lifestyle. Our actions online create a generally unalterable record of the smallest details of our personal lives, views, beliefs, and private actions. Yet, as we grow and change... our online records still reflect the way we once were. In my opinion, a person's online history may one day prove to be the most private and important record of any person's life... yet in contemporary times, it is perhaps becoming the most violated. Imagine if your tax history, your medical history, your dating history... were all put out in the town square on a folding table, below an enormous billboard heralding, "Open To The Public." How would you feel? Perhaps your emotional answer to that hypothetical situation should be directly equivalent to how you feel about this very real problem. Contact your state and federal legislators. If you are not an American, contact your representatives in Parliment or other governmental bodies. Urge them to support online privacy. Employers should not, without written permission, be able to play "private investigator" into our lives. Our futures should not be held captive by unimportant online content penned in eras long departed... which may not have been politically correct, or may not have conformed to popular social opinion. Furthermore, support limitation of the data that web software can collect. Urge your government to enact legislation requiring website operators to ask permission before collecting your IP address, or information about your computer. To quote Bill Clinton, "We live in an interdependent world... we can't escape each other." This is an absolutely correct statement from every conceivable standpoint. This doesn't mean, however, that we're not entitled to private lives, private actions, and private personal histories. Support online privacy. Fight against having your every action online tied to your name, or traceable to your real identity. If we don't, I fear we will one day be living in a world where mature adults cannot escape simple mistakes of their pasts, their unpopular views that lasted only a few weeks or months before changing, or their random visitation of unpopular online content. Just my two cents for today. Take care, all! ~ Xavier Mohr
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