e-ignite

Today’s BBC News story about the “intelligent” semantic web asks some very valid questions. Researchers are claiming that by lumping together as much data that they can get their hands on (including public records, shopping data, photographs, locations etc) then thay can provide a more specifically targetted viewpoint on various aspects of the web. But this presents a real privacy concern. Do you want people to be able to search for information about you and find out where you live, where you’ve been, what you’ve been buying, what books you read, what you look like…?

This is a real problem, where marketing agencies, or even those involved in complex phishing scams can get (and use) a load of personal information about you. While in theory, it sounds like a good idea to make it possible to search much more intelligently and find a wealth of related information, it’s often forgotten that this can actually be a bad thing - when you are the subject of the search. There is already a frightening amount of personal information available on the internet, and this kind of scheme would not be a good addition as far as I’m concerned.

This reminds me of a supposed spoof on the internet about a guy ordering a pizza. Once you’ve seen it and stopped chuckling, you might begin to worry just how true it is. Check out the flash movie and let me know what you think.