AMERICAN DOSSIER: YOUR LIFE ON THE INTERNET

Abstract

This paper explores virtual privacy in the Information Age. It observes that personal data, transactional records, digital exhaust, and meta-data — provided with knowledge or without consent — are being gathered, compiled, stored, mined, and sold on the open market by governments, corporations, and individuals. These data are growing at an exponential rate in part due to naivete, trust, and voluntary actions by technology users. Personal data are now routinely subjected to unprecedented intrusions as emerging technology has far outstripped any legal or constitutional protections. We conclude that relinquishing personal privacy is the currency spent in search of convenience and scarce time when using mobile computing devices, smart phones, and the internet. Our very human footprints, caches of personal and professional data, intellectual property, and private intimate details are manifested indelibly within our digital dossiers on the infinitely public internet.