The Everlasting Digital Memory

Interview with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger author of "Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age"

In his book "Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age" Viktor Mayer-Schönberger addresses the problem that information put out in the public realm of the internet takes a live of it's own and it becomes very difficult to control the information once it is has been released to the word wide web as information gets disseminate immediately once uploaded. To illustrate his point the author gives some examples of people who have experienced serious problems due to information available about them on the internet. He for example claims that a teacher-to-be Stacy Snyder was denied certification because of inappropriate photos of her on the internet.

As a solution to this problem the author suggests an expiry date for information on the web.

While discussing this book in class we did a quick survey to find out how many people agreed with the author and thought that unlimited storage and availability of personal data on the word wide web was a problem that needed a solution. The result of this data collection showed that 18 people agreed that is was a problem while 11 disagreed.

My personal opinion is that while I think that the author has a valid point when highlighting those problems that can arise from releasing information into the web, on the other hand I also consider the almost endless digital storage capabilities of the web one of its greatest assets, that means the possibly to retrieve any information and build on this knowledge, which are the building stones of a collective intelligence. There might also be historic events that some political regimes might be eager to delete from the global memory, but this must not happen.

However, to avoid that uploaded content, while in mood to party, becomes an obstacle to future employment, it is important to educate people on what to consider before releasing data into a public space like the internet and handing private data over to big corporations. Additional, stricter guidelines should be introduced on how the corporations deal with the personal data mined from the users to ensure that this data is not put to a detrimental use.

Google boss Eric Schmidt only recently warned that people would have to actually change there intently to escape there online past. He said: "I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time." Google chief warns on social networking dangers

And he knows what he is talking about, being the head of one of the largest data collectors. The prospect of actually having to change your name should really alert people to the problems that can be caused by being too liberal with personal information on the web.

PS: Interestingly, there are already a number of companies who over to clean up your online reputation against a fee. One person’s predicament has always been another person’s business opportunity.Google Yourself—And Enjoy

Welcome to SandraMi's Digital Culture Clash

In this blog I will reflect on my experience with New Media and my Applied Digital Media Studies in Griffith College. I hope you, the reader, will find some interessting thoughts/information in this blog and I encourge you all to leave some feedback.
Sandra