I might also add “read Bellingcat or enjoyed ‘Jose Monkey‘”. I get it, “billionaire outrage” is huge, but the excesses of the Trump government are squarely a political issue. Screaming THIEL TECHBROS BIG DATA SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM ignores the fictional or real human or paper databases which have forever served government purposes for good or ill.
Databases are a dual use technology. Open Source Intelligence is here and has always been here. Tweets are not DRMed, and in any case DRM does not work. Aggregation of everything you’ve ever said and attributing it to you, is not under your control whether you like it or not. The right to be forgotten is a political construct that is not universal, and which in any case “national security” is typically an exemption.
The digital universe does not naturally give you any form of control over what happens to copies of data that is about you. However much you like it, you don’t get to control what other people already know about you. It is unrealistic to pretend that the state will meaningfully give you the power to remedy that.
You should arrange your life accordingly, and start by openly and energetically working towards getting the government you believe that people deserve.
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