Thursday, March 12, 2009

Telephone Directories

20 years ago, if you wanted to find someone... you looked them up in the telephone directory and it had their number and their physical address. We didn't think twice about the fact that anyone could find out where you live.

Maybe it was because the world was smaller. Most people hadn't really gone overseas, and you lived, worked and played in a fairly small area. Maybe you ventured somewhere for holidays if you were lucky, but pretty much most of your activity was in one place. Even then, I don't think my family knew as many people in the neighbourhood as maybe was the case 20 years before that.

Now, perhaps there is just a fear of a boundaryless world where you really don't know anyone for certain?

Maybe that's true. But I think it is becoming harder, not easier, for those dodgy members of our society who make others live in fear to get away with it. More and more it is harder to hide who you are and what you have done. Perhaps this is scary, but maybe it is actually a step towards a safer world.

Seth Godin points out that 'Google Never Forgets'. Google yourself, you will be surprised what it picks up! More and more you (and the dodgy people out there) will have a digital footprint wherever you go.

Yes, this brings up issues of privacy. But maybe it means we are all just going to have to live more honest lives. 'The Washington Post Test', where if you knew what you were about to do would appear on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, would you do it anyway?

1 comment:

Dhruv Pandya said...

There's more to privacy than living an honest life. There are many issues that are best kept in confidence e.g. health, legal, political issues.