The web never forgets.

Between Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and now Google Dashboard, I can see my life in writing for the past several years (as long as I’ve had an account on each).

Is it invasive that there is a record of me searching for directions to a restaurant in Marblehead back in May 2008, according to Google? Or that I my posts to Facebook friends dating to 2006 are sitting on a Facebook server in Silicon Valley somewhere? Or that Gmail provides me with online ads based on a demographic profile it has gleaned from my private emails? Or that LinkedIn and Facebook routinely suggest the names of people they recommend I contact, based solely on what these social networks already know about me?

Yes, and no. From the start, I made the choice to use the web, to connect with other people, to exchange ideas, and sometimes just to have fun. Reading my chronological web trail is like flipping through a diary. These records remind me of past experiences, past ideas and of who I was then. I’m the one who published the content — and I continue to put myself out there. In the end, I am in control of, and responsible for, the message.

Is it scary? Sometimes. Google knows what time of day I look up my client coverage scans, what I read on blogs, what my private emails contain and what searches I’ve conducted. That’s a lot to know about someone. Cookies allow advertisers and marketers to track the websites that you visit. How secure is the data? In 2006, 36 million member AOL search queries were published on the web in a massive security breach. What’s going to stop something like that from happening in the future?

I became aware recently that someone I know in real life has been keeping regular tabs on me via Twitter without making any actual contact with me. My gut reaction surprised me. It felt like some sort of invasion of privacy. But in the end I realized that I made the situation possible. I’m the one who posts the content about my life, after all. If that’s how someone wants to keep up with me, that’s their decision, not mine.

Privacy is a concern, but it’s not going to keep me from continuing to use social networks, Google search, Gmail, and other web services. In these busy, multitasking times, it may be the most efficient way to keeping a diary. I’ve willingly engaged in an online public conversation, and it’s been worth it. I just hope that the online communications and activities we assume to be private are secure – and remain that way.

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Technorati Tags: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Social Networks, Twitter

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