DNS - A Trend for the Future: Changing Your Identity to Hide a Lurid Digital Past

In a piece of conventional wisdom one hopes no one should have to point out, Google CEO Eric Schmidt (News - Alert) this week has a bit of warning for netizens: if you post your entire life online (including the personal and embarrassing bits), you may be sorry someday. Schmidt, who believes there is a lack of understanding among the public of the consequences of posting too much personal info online, told the Wall Street Journal that he expects it will become commonplace for many young people to change their names as they reach responsible adulthood in order to erase their lurid digital pasts.

Schmidt would know. In 2005, a CNET reporter wrote an article about Google’s (News - Alert) collection and storage of personal information pulled from searches, and underscored the scope of the problem by collecting – and publishing – a host of personal information about Schmidt himself.

Does Schmidt see government regulation on privacy in the future? He believes there’s no need. In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Schmidt said, “Regulation is unnecessary because Google faces such strong incentives to treat its users right, since they will walk away the minute Google does anything with their personal information they find ‘creepy.’” The problem is, many people – particularly younger people -- are unaware exactly how much personal information companies like Google possess, and what can be done with information, and therefore aren’t yet aware of the depth of the creepy factor. It’s only until they find a lucrative job offer rescinded because the employer found a college-era photo of the applicant doing keg stands at a frat party, evidence of a past subscription to “High Times” magazine or a log of regular searches for “leather bondage garments” that users will truly realize the consequences of the digital folly of their youth.

It’s already a serious problem: a daily glance at the news reveals regular stories of people fired for disrespectful Tweets or Facebook (News - Alert) posts (it’s probably not a good idea to keep your Faceboook status as “My Job Sucks” when you are Facebook friends with co-workers) and even arrests for posted photos depicting illegal activities. Even blogging at work can be risky: time-and date-stamped personal blog posts can be used as evidence that employees are doing personal work on company time and equipment.

Schmidt seems to contradict himself when he says there is no need for regulation, because he agrees that few people know the sheer volume and intimate nature of the information collected about them. “I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time," he told the WSJ.

Society may not, but Mr. Schmidt certainly does.