Erasing David

                After watching the movie, Erasing David, it is hard not feel paranoid of being constantly surveyed. You become more aware of the kind of information that you readily give out to others and what may be easily accessible. Identity is something that should be unique to one person but instead has become everybody’s business and usually without consent. It’s scary to know who can acquire your information and for what purpose.

                I work at the Admissions and I have the ability to sift through records of past and current students at the university. Yes I have signed paperwork agreeing to not give out information as well as tamper with permanent records but I can shed light onto the knowledge that I have available to me. At my job I can pull up a student’s address, phone number, social security number, grades, immunization records, ACT scores, etc.

                To some, this availability that I have might be frightening considering I am a student myself who can make human errors when working in a student’s record. What is even more frightening is that to obtain this information a student would have to give me their name and either student ID or birthdate. I cannot verify who is really calling me over the phone so if the person on the other line says they are a student and can provide me with the right information, I am able to give it out.

                My job is only one of many ways that one can acquire information about another person. It is hard to have this knowledge and not feel worried about what others can acquire from you without you even realizing. In the book, Everyday Surveillance by William Staples, the author addresses how information can be accessed and used against people without any warning. For example, the book addresses how certain cars give off emissions that are illegal in some areas. So a person can obtain a ticket in the mail for their cars emissions and not have any idea where their cars emissions were being tracked.

                It’s frightening how much information can be accessed from databases without our knowledge. It’s even worse when someone is punished by a tracking that they were not aware was implemented. Paranoia will continue to surface when information is so easily accessed.