While I am very much an advocate of privacy, especially in terms of our constitutional rights, I’m also realistic enough to know that expectations of privacy vary, depending on the forum, situation, location, etc. It’s why when it comes to sites such as Facebook [as I’ve previously stated], I post only what I’d want my grandmother to see. In this day and age of corporatism and the current government we have [a plutocracy/oligarchy], there’s enough information out there on anyone who’s even remotely on the grid to piece together something about that individual. Of course, some people have more exposure than others, especially if your name is Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, or some other remotely vacuous [or vacuous-appearing] shiny object the media loves to fixate on.

This recent article just supports my thinking:

The idea of tracing our steps through the digital jungle and departing it like we were never there seems too ambitious, almost unfathomable. But what would it take for an individual to erase his digital footprint? Is it even possible to exit the Internet?

The short answer is no.

On one hand, it’s inspiring to think that the Net is a way to ensure a sort of immortality- I wonder how long after my death this blog and my other writings and postings will still be searchable/viewable? But on the other hand, it’s a bit worrisome, especially when companies like Facebook  ignore their user’s concerns, or internet mail and search engine businesses are willing to compromise the information they have and share it with federal agencies on fishing expeditions. What boundaries exist? What boundaries should exist? More importantly, what boundaries used to exist, or never existed at all?

For now, I continue to view those who have extreme privacy views and those who complain about Facebook [but not about wiretapping, data mining, etc.] but continue to post everything and anything with a cynical eye; I’ll continue to be open about the things I’m okay with being open about, and simply not share what I don’t want shared. But it’s definitely past time for the only major legislation that is in effect, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to be updated [Everyone except corporate interests and Congress seem to agree-- even former DOJ attorneys say this is long overdue]. This law was passed in 1986, and hasn’t been seriously updated since. In an era and an area of our society (cyberspace) where a 24-hour day is an eternity, 1986 in terms of electronic communications is essentially the Cambrian, or perhaps Silurian, era.

If anyone actually attempts to seriously reform this and isn’t on the take from corporate interests [ha! I know—highly unlikely to find such an uncorrupted individual in D.C. these days…], I’d love to see EFCA strengthened in terms of many things: bright-line limits on what information may be data mined, strong restrictions on wiretapping, and clearer definitions on security and accountability for security breaches [considering the rise in identity theft and the misuse of online communications and databases to do so, this is definitely an area for careful revision]. I highly doubt this’ll happen anytime soon, but it’s worth wishing for.