The Data Broker's Bitch

You. You and your socially networked exquisitely trackable self are being profiled with dossier for sale to various others in that ether which is the internet without your permission and beyond your control.

That anonymity you may think is there is less in your purview than the scads of others monitoring your presence here there and everywhere across the web.

I took a rare foray into mainstream news television one night and watched most of a piece on CBS 60 Minutes regarding data privacy which was fairly congruent with my research on the topic of data mining and while disturbing it left me feeling glad that I've been harsh regarding the topic and perpetrators of what should be more than "just regulated" ... but a CRIME all along. They even had a followup piece on exploit prevention.

In a word, data brokers are why there are no ads here. They are why I routinely block data centers harboring these scumbags.

They are why I utilize heavy duty encryption on my mail server. They are why I scour the whois database and keep current on the user agents out there to the best of my ability. They are why I script my web server and control who gets to it and how they may access it's content. They are why this IP address is so exclusionary. It's a mean internet out there and so many of you are SUCH totally easy pickings. Nothing makes me shudder quicker than to see my mother on Facebook looking at all the others routine display of themselves.

Though I do realize that a certain number seek some sort of "digital fame" and others simply "don't care"; I decline to be an active participant and wish to retain a certain amount of mystique regarding myself and those who use my network.

Good luck to you in your pursuit of maintaining your privacy out there in the global electronic data mine — if that's what you want. What's the catch? YOU.