Interpreting “You” and “Me”

Abstract

Over a billion people are said to use the WWW and Internet, with 1 in 6 humans on earth accessing these technological systems. Many of these users have created their own personal profiles online, and all also have “silent information” about them that may be accessed on a variety of connected databases (including many on the Deep, Hidden, or Invisible Web). People use the WWW and Internet with a semblance of anonymity, but in fact, most interactions online are trackable to Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which allows for the revealing of the individual behind the photo, the video, the information, or other elements. Internet profiles may be coalesced into actual identities, even with inaccuracies, and such information may be kept in perfect electronic memory into perpetuity. This current reality has implications for citizens’ peace-of-mind and degrees of freedom in decision-making. This chapter offers an approach that may serve as a “forcing function” to propose limitations to the sharing of private information in public spaces.