However, permanent record is in no way the natural state of man. The problem of constant surveillance now is problematic, but only to a limited extent because of how surprisingly not evil the people watching are; black bags and public executions are reserved for people with funny skin and strange religions in far away places. However, there is an even bigger problem in that the surveillance record stays. It follows us around forever. Any mistake or error you make will haunt you til the rest of your days.
People are forgetful, but less forgiving. If you "fix" forgetfulness, and make memory of your actions eternal and immortal, you destroy second chances.
It follows us around forever. Any mistake or error you make will haunt you til the rest of your days.
I can't help but think that we've crossed that bridge, and that in the near future everything about anyone will forever be obtainable. Avoiding this situation will require collaboration around safeguarding individual privacy on a scale we haven't accomplished up to now.
> However, there is an even bigger problem in that the surveillance record stays. It follows us around forever. Any mistake or error you make will haunt you til the rest of your days.
Well, Google certainly retains things for longer than NSA or GCHQ does, and in any event you're describing a problem that is not new or peculiar to the Internet.
Anon is already quite fond of reminding us that "The Internet Does Not Forget". They mean this in regard to the actions of states or corporations, but the shoe does apply to the other foot.
Likewise the government already maintains permanent private and public records on many people as a matter of course.
The Germans have a very insightful legal structure on data privacy which basically forbids both collection of needless data and retention past relatively short timeframes, but I suspect that it will eventually become yet another way of trying to wash away reality via the law, as we see so often in the U.S. The Internet has popped the data genie well and truly out of its bottle, and it's high time we came to grips with that.
> If you "fix" forgetfulness, and make memory of your actions eternal and immortal, you destroy second chances.
Not at all. The correct action is in any event to allow for second chances fully appreciating that the person has previous faults. For starters it's only fair; none of us are perfect. But also, we already live in a world where people end up with scarlet letters and so it is already necessary (not simply a good idea, but required) the the law and society both are able to give people second chances.
If we can't already give second chances then we have much bigger problems to solve as a society. If we can give second chances already then the idea of our mistakes being captured can simply become a new normal, just like cell phones replaced landlines and automobiles replaced the horse and buggy.
People are forgetful, but less forgiving. If you "fix" forgetfulness, and make memory of your actions eternal and immortal, you destroy second chances.