I’d never read Wired magazine before. But while browsing through random magazines at my local library I happened across this very interesting story from late 2009.
Freelancer Evan Ratliff was fascinated by how public our lives are in this digital age. He wondered if anyone could actually disappear, without leaving “digital fingerprints”. So he decided to give it a go.
This is a really great piece of journalism. Not only for its writing and intriguing subject matter, but also because of the manhunt that Wired readers and computer nerds took up obsessively (Wired offered a cash reward and it was a bit of a game). Hundreds of people logged on to track Ratliff and, in just 25 days, succeeded in catching him.
At the end of the article, I came to a sudden point of realisation – that my much-loved gadgets are cheating on me.
Right now my laptop is sending all sorts of electronic data to who-knows-where. My phone is sending signals as to my position. My external hard-drive is probably storing the details of the last five computers I logged on to. I can only hope my television isn’t in on the act.
I have thrown out my name, address, date of birth, phone number, bank details and other private information for shinier, more efficient gadgetry. I have willingly given my life to ‘Big Brother’ in my addiction for techno-wizardry.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the person who hangs out in internet cafes, knows everything about World of Warcraft, makes jokes in datascript and shuns people who still don’t own an iPod (really, it’s 2010!). It’s just that I have realised how much I depend on having a digital life – internet banking, blogging, texting, email, social networking, university enrolment, etc… My digital fingerprints would be messier than a three-year-old’s fridge art.
Unlike Ratliff, I’m not trying to vanish and I don’t have a string of cybernerds tracking my every move. But it definitely gave me something to think about.
Check Ratliff’s piece out here. Or have you already followed the story? Are you scared of your digital fingerprints or have you found a way to erase them?
