Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been widely quoted in the media for some comments he made during an interview with the Wall Street Journal recently. Talking about the amount of information people freely share about themselves online without a second though, Mr. Schmidt stated that in the future people should be entitled to change their identity in order to escape their misspent youth – often recorded in excruciating detail online on sites such as Facebook.
This got me thinking – just how dangerous could that decade old photo showing me dancing on a table with a bottle of vodka and few inhibitions be to my future self? Will prospective employers overlook me? Will my possible future husband dump me? And if I suddenly become political and decide to run for Mayor, will I be laughed out of the voting booth?!
Image courtesy of nasrulekram
I can’t help thinking that just by taking a few small precautions – ticking the relevant privacy box and not accepting friendship requests from strangers – I’ll actually be alright in another decade’s time. A lot of scare stories are written up in the media at the moment but rather than telling people they should avoid social networks at all costs, shouldn’t we really just be focusing on how to use them sensibly? After all, I’m quite attached to my name and don’t really want to go through the hassle of adopting a whole new identity. If I change my mind though, marriage should allow me to hide a few misdemeanours at least…
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