Consequences of the Information Age

So in the past 12 hours since becoming aware of the UCLA security breach, I've called UCLA confirming my info was in the compromised database, set a fraud alert with Experian, emailed every UCLA yahoogroup I'm on, and spent about an hour w/my roommate to set up a facebook support group. I guess it's all an effort to feel empowered when you feel helpless. Oh well, if I'm going to freak out, I'm going to make sure everyone I know freaks out with me.

Well not exactly. While the initial shock of knowing my information is floating around there with some stranger, it doesn't surprise me that this would eventually happen. The digital age has allowed us to store the records of millions, and potentially TRILLIONS, of people in just one centralized server with ease. Unfortunately that ease is afforded to all, regardless of one's intentions. And no security system is completely secure; the hacker that got into UCLA's database didn't actually BEAT the security, but went AROUND it. So with the UCLA security compromised, potentially the information of 800,000 people has been exposed, and while that number seems gigantic, in this digital age, where the difference between storing 1 GB and 10,000 GB is only a few thousand dollars, that number could easily be a lot bigger.

But it's not like our information is out there already. Hell, my generation has practically EMBRACED the idea of information sharing. They had us at the start, when Napster let us share "free" music. After that, the snowball just raged down the hill and never let up: music sharing became file sharing, and now with devices like friendster, myspace, facebook, livejournal, xanga, and blogger, we're now into PEOPLE sharing, starting with OURSELVES. We put up pictures for everyone to see. We put up all the ways outsiders can find us: phone numbers, email, AIM, addresses, profile links. It's become an obsession, as if we NEED the world to see us, lest we be forgotten. And we've accepted the risks, or have just been oblivious to them. After last night, UCLA is certainly oblivious no longer.

With this rude awakening, Pandora's Box has been opened for about 800,000 people, with millions watching in horror, and there's nothing we can do to go back. We might as well accept the fact that NOBODY's personal information is truly secure, and with that, focus on how we can prevent that information from being used against us. The dam has broke, and while cursing the dam feels appropriate, it'd be more prudent to learn to stay afloat.