Have you ever wondered what the life of another person looks like?
And is the difference of experiences, of hobbies and origin really noticeable?
I sometimes do. Movies like putting people into another person's shoes and show how hard it is to walk, especially when the shoe is no instant fit.
Could somebody just take over another's life? And how would you gather enough information about a person to imitate them? Talk with friends, family, associates? Check possessions?
Actually this thought kind of scares me - wouldn't you really get to know a person by tracing everything on one's computer(s)? One's mobile phone?
The amount of data we inevitably enter over years, over decades is - even when going mostly anonymous - vast. How often did you go by the same nickname? Or use the same password, how often did you enter your true birthday, your email adress? Hobbies - how much information did you give away by writing in forums, writing mails to friends, colleagues, family?
And what about all those photos, notes and videos on your computer?
In a way, everything you do shows part of yourself.
People complain about google collecting data, about facebook not being too keen on giving privacy...
Still, isn't it rather the realization how careless we handle personal information that fuels us to condemn them? Because they show us that everything about us is already there?
I really mean 'we' - I am one of those which like anonymity quite much.
Just a thought. Maybe I should stop complaining about the data collectors - or rather, do it more rationally. They can only collect what we give them. I still don't like it, and never will - but what does it say about a person if one does not see the other side of the coin, the origin of the problem. You cannot condemn the effect, the data collecting, without admitting that the careless dealing with internet made just that possible.
