Yesterday I was thinking about the digital dependence so many in the world today have developed. It is a worldwide, pervasive thing as strong as any drug, and it can be just as deadly. I'm not excluding myself in any of that, I'm just as online as most. My digital fingerprints are everywhere. Do I have a dependence? I admit it would be a difficult habit to abandon at this point. Still, like most people with such addiction I will deny that I am addicted. Perhaps if that admission where to provide me with some benefit I would have a different attitude. It's advantageous to be the victim occasionally. It has become almost an admirable quality in the last few years. Being a survivor!
I was also on the computer yesterday and browsing Facebook. That is at the heart of my digital dependence, as it has become a portion of my daily routine. I saw several articles about the assassination attempt of Donald Trump. One focused on the fact that the shooter had done a google search on the Kennedy assassination. His digital background was being checked and scrutinized. According to the article this search was known about previously. No explanation about why it was known, just that it was. I wonder if someone, some entity or artificial intelligence mechanism had picked up on that. I'm quite certain Facebook employs all of that as I frequently get warnings, messages and occasionally blocked altogether. I haven't been blocked lately although I have had posts removed. All of that is just an annoyance to me.
There has been much discussion about privacy on the internet. How much is private? In my estimation, none of it is private. I have always scoffed at the notion that any portion of it was. Since the very beginning of the internet, and yes, I was there, there have been hackers, those reading, commenting and prying into whatever information you provide them. I've known since I was quite young, the only way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone. That includes your best friend and your spouse. I haven't posted a thing that I wanted to be private. My search history is certainly an open book to anyone that would care to examine it. The thing is, I don't have any secrets to keep. I have nothing to hide and so remain relatively unconcerned with all of that. I do pay some bills online, order some items and so have concern for that information. It has been compromised on at least one occasion. I expect if I had more, it would happen more often. Robbing a bank and breaking into a piggy bank yield a different result.
Do you have a right, a reasonable expectation of privacy on your digital devices? I agree that you should but emphasize that you don't. I believe it is a foolish thing to believe that regardless of any firewalls, vpn's or encryption. Locks are only there to keep honest people honest, they do little to stop the thieves. That's the reason Ft. Knox is guarded by the United States Mint Police. All of the advanced safety and security measures are employed but still it is guarded by people. You can't just go home at night believing, it's fine, the door is locked.
But what of the legality of searching your digital data, lifting your digital fingerprints from the scene of the crime? I'm no lawyer, no constitutional scholar, but aren't we guaranteed that by the fourth amendment. Thing is, that doesn't apply after the fact. The crime has already been committed and so the evidence can be gathered by court orders. Apparently, there is no consequence for destroying any digital record, Hillary famously did so with her basement server and cell phones. And what is happening with Hunter's laptop? It also appears perfectly fine to take anything anyone has said, posted, or transmitted in any way, on any social media platform and put it on the evening news. No privacy concerns there. Tells me there is no right to privacy on any social media platforms, private messages aren't so private after all. Certainly, don't need a court order for any of that. Whatever you posted ten years ago, or more, is fair game.
I do wonder by whom, and for what purpose my digital data is being gathered. I have no doubt that it is. Somewhere it is being stored. I have been told that whatever you put on the internet stays there forever. I admit I do harbor some doubts about that, it doesn't seem possible or particularly desirable. That combined with my ability to "lose" my own stuff makes me question that. I was writing a book on a platform called "Fast Pencil" that is no longer. All those pages, notes and thoughts are now gone, disappeared into the ethernet somewhere. Were their servers wiped clean? I don't know, but if I see my words being published, I guess I'll have my answer then. Did they really disappear?
The big question in all of this is can law enforcement use that information for a preemptive strike? That is to say based on your search history? Much was made of the fact that the kid was reading about the Kennedy assassination. As terrible an event that it was, it is still a part of history. Should we be concerned about what events in history we read and research? Will that get your name on some list? A list that is now being checked against whatever other activities you are engaged in. Suppose I want to purchase a gun and my name is on that list, can I then be denied that purchase? What about other objects that could be used for nefarious reasons, large purchases of fertilizer or bleach or anything like that. Will AI cross reference all digital activity associated with that to your name, to your "REAL ID" that government mandated document.
As I said though, I have nothing to hide and so I'm not concerned. The only way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone. The second rule in keeping a secret is to never write it down. Don't do it! Even Nostradamus with his backward writing that was encoded in some fashion has been deciphered. There is little writing in the world that hasn't been figured out. Yes, a few inscriptions chiseled in stone or scratched on a parchment haven't been. My search history would certainly be varied as I'm a curious person by nature. I also enjoy history and searching for the real story.
I can't see any of that raising any red flags. I can see it be very damaging if I were to run for any political position. People hate Trump for his views and opinions, those people would certainly place me right next to him as an evil man. Yeah, I'm a conservative person prone to stating my actual opinion and not worried about what others think. I dropped out of the popularity contest in third grade. Want to know about me? Start reading, I've written over five thousand of these blogs with no plan to quit. I'm certain you can find whatever you want in there somewhere, good or bad. That's fine with me. Remember, if you want to keep a secret don't tell anyone or write it down. Do I have a secret? You will never know.
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