My DU question of 04-13 was about our internet data.
Who, besides convenience store robbers, who appear nightly on local newscasts traipsing about completely oblivious to the cameras *EVERY*where, have been oblivious to the myriad data collection gadgets *EVERY*where?!1
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12591247 [font size=5] [/font]
[font size=5]I just Googled myself[/font]
And I always knew that our posts are out there for all the internet to see, but, thinking again as I frequently do about some of my more, uh erratic, posts particularly in the Lounge, the often shunted aside embarrassment stayed sharper and longer than usual this time.
I don’t mind my political opinions being out there and in fact wish that my barbs against Shrub and all wingnuts would hit the widest mark possible (despite their sinking like stones at home in DU), but there might be some local people who actually know me who would take delight at my most ridiculous side, if they hit on the Google key to me. Besides the flakey stuff, we feel like we’re with intimate friends at DU and disclose some intimate things here.
1- I assume that all of our posts are out there forever without any Deletion possible. Like, even if we asked for some kind of super-Closure of account that would wipe us completely off the website, the previous thousands of posts would still be out there?
2- The frivolous thought that I might Google myself, then open every single Result and DU-Delete each one, even passed through my mind, but even my DU post count would be impossible, not to mention that Google says there are some 7 million results.
3- If I just stopped posting, the Googles would still be there, but might recede in time? No, never?
The consolations/rationalizations I tell myself are: If some reasonable person read every single one of my posts, they would have to conclude that I’m not such a bad dude. The spiteful people will stay that way with or without further bolstering of their spite from my flakey posts.
Any assessment of the realistic feasibility of 1/2/3 (above) or other remedies will be appreciated. Oh, heck, I just thought about how there are other Search things besides Google and don’t even understand whether they are all linked or things to themselves!1
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[font size=5]You can self-delete any message you posted since mid-December 2011, when we moved into DU3.[/font]
But you have to do it one-by-one. There is no super mass-delete function.
We will sometimes delete old posts from DU2 at the request of the person who posted them, but only if there is a compelling reason -- for example, if a post reveals the name or other specific personal information about the person who posted it.
This raises an important point: Avoiding disclosure of personal information on Democratic Underground should address most problems about what you post here. If people cannot connect a real-life human being with a username here, then what you post here should not be a concern.
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