Comments on: Note to Self: http://eternallyoptimistic.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/ Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:51:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Garrett Serack: CardSpace and more... : Losing our Anonymity? http://eternallyoptimistic.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/comment-page-1/#comment-153 Garrett Serack: CardSpace and more... : Losing our Anonymity? Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:52:17 +0000 https://eternaloptimist.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/#comment-153 [...] Losing our Anonymity? I originally wrote this as a comment to Pamela's blog, but I thought it was interesting enough to stand alone. Quoting from her post: The AOL search data scandal is a welcome wakeup call. It is useful to remember that even a common, theoretically harmless internet activity might be used to correlate between normally segmented parts of a person’s identity. Data that people believe goes no farther than from the chair to the keyboard gets published, and one more illusion of privacy goes out like the baby with the bathwater. It's a nasty quagmire we've gotten ourselves into. On one hand, it's nice to see all the nasty things that we've said about one another in the past, but it's another thing to have one's identity defined by the questions(searches) that you've had. What are you going to do? Not use search engines? Not Likely. Heck the "G" has done a rather fine job of making sure that when I want to search, it's there. Our world is shrinking, yet getting bigger all at the same time.  At least I know for a fact, that I'm the only Garrett Serack out there.  Well, except for that granola-eatin' tree-huggin' Linux guru... That couldn't have been me... I work for the "M" ... In any event, what you have to ask yourself is, how would you behave if someone was looking over your shoulder?  Is that not what's happening? A wise man once told me that "A hero, is a person who does the right thing when nobody is looking". Sure, I think it's probably not really anyone's business what kind of particular things I search for on the Internet, and frankly I'm really not thrilled about the 'virtual profile' that is being assembled about me. Not because of its existance mind you, but because there's a bunch of people who are doing things with that information that they wouldn't if someone was watching them. (the Anti-Hero) So, what's the solution? NOISE. and VOLUME. I'm thinking about writing a random phrase searching tool, which will start picking random phrases upon which to search, all with my cookie. And I'm going to write it to be a screensaver, so everytime I'm away from my PC, it starts filling the search engine'ssearch logs with completely useless information.  If you want to make sure that they can't track what you're doing, drown them in crap. What possible good will having the data do them, once you've started clogging the profiler? Hopefully none. g Garrett Serack | Program Manager |Federated Identity Team | Microsoft Corporationblog:http://blogs.msdn.com/garretts Published Thursday, August 17, 2006 2:47 PM by GarrettS [...] [...] Losing our Anonymity? I originally wrote this as a comment to Pamela’s blog, but I thought it was interesting enough to stand alone. Quoting from her post: The AOL search data scandal is a welcome wakeup call. It is useful to remember that even a common, theoretically harmless internet activity might be used to correlate between normally segmented parts of a person’s identity. Data that people believe goes no farther than from the chair to the keyboard gets published, and one more illusion of privacy goes out like the baby with the bathwater. It’s a nasty quagmire we’ve gotten ourselves into. On one hand, it’s nice to see all the nasty things that we’ve said about one another in the past, but it’s another thing to have one’s identity defined by the questions(searches) that you’ve had. What are you going to do? Not use search engines? Not Likely. Heck the “G” has done a rather fine job of making sure that when I want to search, it’s there. Our world is shrinking, yet getting bigger all at the same time.  At least I know for a fact, that I’m the only Garrett Serack out there.  Well, except for that granola-eatin’ tree-huggin’ Linux guru… That couldn’t have been me… I work for the “M” … In any event, what you have to ask yourself is, how would you behave if someone was looking over your shoulder?  Is that not what’s happening? A wise man once told me that “A hero, is a person who does the right thing when nobody is looking”. Sure, I think it’s probably not really anyone’s business what kind of particular things I search for on the Internet, and frankly I’m really not thrilled about the ‘virtual profile’ that is being assembled about me. Not because of its existance mind you, but because there’s a bunch of people who are doing things with that information that they wouldn’t if someone was watching them. (the Anti-Hero) So, what’s the solution? NOISE. and VOLUME. I’m thinking about writing a random phrase searching tool, which will start picking random phrases upon which to search, all with my cookie. And I’m going to write it to be a screensaver, so everytime I’m away from my PC, it starts filling the search engine’ssearch logs with completely useless information.  If you want to make sure that they can’t track what you’re doing, drown them in crap. What possible good will having the data do them, once you’ve started clogging the profiler? Hopefully none. g Garrett Serack | Program Manager |Federated Identity Team | Microsoft Corporationblog:http://blogs.msdn.com/garretts Published Thursday, August 17, 2006 2:47 PM by GarrettS [...]

]]> By: Garrett Serack http://eternallyoptimistic.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/comment-page-1/#comment-152 Garrett Serack Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:47:09 +0000 https://eternaloptimist.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/#comment-152 It's a nasty quagmire we've gotten ourselves into. On one hand, it's nice to see all the nasty things that we've said about one another in the past, but it's another thing to have one's identity defined by the questions(searches) that you've had. What are you going to do? Not use search engines? Not Likely. Heck the "G" has done a rather fine job of making sure that when I want to search, it's there. Our world is shrinking, yet getting bigger all at the same time. At least I know for a fact, that I'm the only Garrett Serack out there. Well, except for that granola-eatin' tree-huggin' Linux guru... That couldn't have been me... I work for the "M" ... In any event, what you have to ask yourself is, how would you behave if someone was looking over your shoulder? Is that not what's happening? A wise man once told me that "A hero, is a person who does the right thing when nobody is looking". Sure, I think it's probably not really anyone's business what kind of particular things I search for on the Internet, and frankly I'm really not thrilled about the 'virtual profile' that is being assembled about me. Not because of its existance mind you, but because there's a bunch of people who are doing things with that information that they wouldn't if someone was watching them. So, what's the solution? NOISE. and VOLUME. I'm thinking about writing a random phrase searching tool, which will start picking random phrases upon which to search, all with my cookie. And I'm going to write it to be a screensaver, so everytime I'm away from my PC, it starts filling the search engine'ssearch logs with completely useless information. If you want to make sure that they can't track what you're doing, drown them in crap. What possible good will having the data do them, once you've started clogging the profiler? Hopefully none. G <b>Pam says</b>:  Garrett, that is BRILLIANT!  Can I have a copy of it when you're done? It’s a nasty quagmire we’ve gotten ourselves into.

On one hand, it’s nice to see all the nasty things that we’ve said about one another in the past, but it’s another thing to have one’s identity defined by the questions(searches) that you’ve had.

What are you going to do? Not use search engines? Not Likely.

Heck the “G” has done a rather fine job of making sure that when I want to search, it’s there.

Our world is shrinking, yet getting bigger all at the same time.

At least I know for a fact, that I’m the only Garrett Serack out there. Well, except for that granola-eatin’ tree-huggin’ Linux guru… That couldn’t have been me… I work for the “M”

…

In any event, what you have to ask yourself is, how would you behave if someone was looking over your shoulder? Is that not what’s happening?

A wise man once told me that “A hero, is a person who does the right thing when nobody is looking”.

Sure, I think it’s probably not really anyone’s business what kind of particular things I search for on the Internet, and frankly I’m really not thrilled about the ‘virtual profile’ that is being assembled about me. Not because of its existance mind you, but because there’s a bunch of people who are doing things with that information that they wouldn’t if someone was watching them.

So, what’s the solution?

NOISE. and VOLUME.

I’m thinking about writing a random phrase searching tool, which will start picking random phrases upon which to search, all with my cookie. And I’m going to write it to be a screensaver, so everytime I’m away from my PC, it starts filling the search engine’ssearch logs with completely useless information. If you want to make sure that they can’t track what you’re doing, drown them in crap.

What possible good will having the data do them, once you’ve started clogging the profiler? Hopefully none.

G

Pam says:  Garrett, that is BRILLIANT!  Can I have a copy of it when you’re done?

]]> By: William Beem http://eternallyoptimistic.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/comment-page-1/#comment-156 William Beem Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:15:15 +0000 https://eternaloptimist.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/#comment-156 I've always thought the best way to protect my identity is to assert it. Maybe that's not bright, but it's my working theory. Knowing that my name is out there hasn't always helped me keep TMI to myself. Then again, we have Dooce.com as an excellent example of how security by obscurity can fail, and then open the door to financial success. There are clearly many people participating on the Internet that want to maintain a discrete distance from their alter-ego. Many people, I suspect, fear the concept of strong identity on the Internet. What happens if people really know who they are? This thought may concern folks who do nothing to be embarassing or shameful. Who do you trust with your identity? I'm still looking forward to the day when we have fully proofed digital signatures and encryption certificates in common usage. It doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon, except in corporate life. <b> </b> I’ve always thought the best way to protect my identity is to assert it. Maybe that’s not bright, but it’s my working theory. Knowing that my name is out there hasn’t always helped me keep TMI to myself. Then again, we have Dooce.com as an excellent example of how security by obscurity can fail, and then open the door to financial success.

There are clearly many people participating on the Internet that want to maintain a discrete distance from their alter-ego. Many people, I suspect, fear the concept of strong identity on the Internet. What happens if people really know who they are? This thought may concern folks who do nothing to be embarassing or shameful. Who do you trust with your identity?

I’m still looking forward to the day when we have fully proofed digital signatures and encryption certificates in common usage. It doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon, except in corporate life.


]]> By: Darrell http://eternallyoptimistic.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/comment-page-1/#comment-155 Darrell Thu, 10 Aug 2006 05:28:46 +0000 https://eternaloptimist.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/#comment-155 A search proxy solves the AOL issue and the GOV in my google issue. Just find one thats cool and free. Heres a start. Once you get the hang of it move on from there. <a href="http://www.blackboxsearch.com" title="BlackBoxSearch" rel="nofollow">http://www.blackboxsearch.com</a> <b>Pam says</b>:  sweet, I'll check it out! I've been looking at <a href="http://torpark.nfshost.com/index.html" title="Torpark" rel="nofollow">Torpark</a> too. A search proxy solves the AOL issue and the GOV in my google issue.

Just find one thats cool and free. Heres a start.
Once you get the hang of it move on from there.

http://www.blackboxsearch.com

Pam says:  sweet, I’ll check it out! I’ve been looking at Torpark too.

]]> By: Cleve http://eternallyoptimistic.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/comment-page-1/#comment-154 Cleve Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:46:56 +0000 https://eternaloptimist.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/the-age-of-tmi/#comment-154 Did you know there is no site called sexymommies I looked. :) The rest of this content is OK but is it just me or should this not be obvious to people? I mean really you have no privacy and the technology industry makes no bones about the fact they store and model everything. When was the last time you went to a web site and the content was modelled to your geographical location or or age group or your sex or etc.... Storage is cheap and with enough data they can sell anything. I guess I am just paranoid! C. <b>Pam says</b>: Hi Cleve! As a matter of fact, I didn't look for sexymommies on purpose, 'cause I started with a different site name that made me sorry I checked :-). I would say that the idea of cross-indexing is becoming more understood but people still assume that the combination of separate identity silos and separate handles will keep their secret lives safe. This false sense of complacency is what really frightens me. Did you know there is no site called sexymommies I looked. :) The rest of this content is OK but is it just me or should this not be obvious to people? I mean really you have no privacy and the technology industry makes no bones about the fact they store and model everything. When was the last time you went to a web site and the content was modelled to your geographical location or or age group or your sex or etc….

Storage is cheap and with enough data they can sell anything.

I guess I am just paranoid!
C.

Pam says: Hi Cleve! As a matter of fact, I didn’t look for sexymommies on purpose, ’cause I started with a different site name that made me sorry I checked :-). I would say that the idea of cross-indexing is becoming more understood but people still assume that the combination of separate identity silos and separate handles will keep their secret lives safe. This false sense of complacency is what really frightens me.

]]>