Privacy and the ‘net.

So, allow me to pose to you a question.

Many months ago I archived off over two thousand old posts, in the interest of privacy. Why did I do this? The stories are abundant: employers googling current and potential employees, current employee peers doing the same thing. Before I go further I would like to say that none of these things have been done to me. I also work, doing tech support, for a CMS and they are obviously well aware of my site and have been for years. I suppose I am pretty damned lucky.

But come May I'll be graduating. I don't know where I'm going from there: grad school or work, and you readers have seen the poll. But either of those could easily involve googling and snooping to see what I've said publicly. My site was not low profile, even now a search on my name will bring this to light.

This concerns me. I am a strong proponent of free speech; and I've often posted controversial items on this site. Sex, politics, drugs, random useless blathering. Those posts are, by and large, archived off now - not even available to friends I want to be able to share that stuff, because it is interesting, because it is what I wrote, because it is part of what I've done in my past. But free speech not withstanding, speech does have consequences. Speech on here, even that which I've archived off, may well be discoverable in the grand archives of the 'net that are hosted by various engines; and this concerns me. Why? Because I want to find gainful employment. Because I admit that I want peer approval, insofar as that I can work with and get along with other human beings.

In short, I don't want to have to defend myself, and things I write now or wrote one, two, three years ago, to a random person at work; or a potential employer, simply because I chose to post something here, on distant, early morning.

Sites like facebook are facing this challenge all the time. Employers go there looking up fresh graduates applying for jobs. A post that someone thought was private saying "I got drunk and partied like crazy tonight!" can effect if an employer will even interview someone these days. Certainly my archives contain even more contentious items; and even by posting this I open up a future of possible snooping and questions.

But I'm going to take a deep breath and post this anyway, because I am naivè and I don't want to believe in any form of big brother. Because I know that I can conduct myself appropriately in a work setting and interacting with my peers and superiors. And lastly, because I'm stubborn in this being my personal space.

Yes, it's naivè and idealistic. Dammit. That shouldn't make it impossible.

Comments (4)

Ellie - I realize that private institutions are not bound by the first amendment.  This is one of many reasons why so many of my posts are protected and viewable only by friends.

However, I also believe that private institutions should hold themselves to free speech, even if they are not required to.

I never stated here that they were bound by the first amendment - you’re right, that would be extremely misinformed.  There is no mention of the first amendment, nor of the constitution, in my initial entry.

The nuance of that missing reference is extremely important.

That’s essentially the whole point of the post - the consequences of speaking, and the idealistic nature of everyone holding themselves to a higher standard.

And, of course, if other people concern themselves with the consequences of their postings - or not.

Thank you for your input. =)

that explains a lot, patch.  I miss your writing greatly and look forward to every new post.  It’s good to see you around and I hope things are going well for you.

I’m still no further on the privacy issue.  Now I am just careful about to what publicity level I post - but I haven’t allowed search engines back in. I’m not sure that I will in the immediate future.