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Think of how many times you have signed up to a website and given your name, date of birth, email and even phone number. Most people will only give this kind of information to a website they 'trust', but what kind of websites can we trust? Just because a website seems genuine and has what appears to be an authentic interface doesn't make it trustable. And what does it mean to trust a website anyway? Does the data stay private? Stored in a secure data base? Either way, it's obtainable, regardless of the type of website it is. Should we care?

There are organizations which work solely on making copies of the internet. Every webpage that has ever been online is saved using sophisticated algorithms and code. An example of this is Gaddafi's website. When the Libyans revolted against the oppressive regime which rules them, Gaddafi's website was taken down. Many celebrated this deletion but others were concerned that digital history has been wiped. Thanks to the organization which saved the website, Gaddafi's official site is still available. Essentially, everything is recovered in the digital world. You can't delete data, you can only replace it. Any sort of content you share online, in whatever format will be stored, forever. Even if you take down the picture you were being an idiot in, it's still there and it's attainable.

Let's face it; we are living in an age where we don't have a choice on what is known about us. Government authorities know your address and every other piece of information about you, that's the law. Facebook knows your email, what friends you interact with, what topics you discuss online and a lot more. If you use any e-commerce site, your details are on there, forever. Why would companies delete your data anyway? They won’t.

Did you know that you can buy data? You can buy names with phone numbers, at cheap rates. Your own data has probably been a business generator for companies, and you never knew about it.

A friend of mine called jack has his name set to ‘Steve Bob’ on Facebook. I asked him curiously about this random name he assigned himself, and he responded saying that he doesn’t want to be tracked down. I later asked him, do you have a credit card, and he sheepishly responded yes. Need I say more?  

There is no way out. You and everything about you is in the hands of the government. Unless you are an anonymous spy from a new action film, your chances are pretty slim to remain a free man. As long as you follow the rules and behave yourself, why should you be afraid or worried anyway? Also, on the flipside, for the government to have information on everybody makes many feel safe. Identifying and tracking down a criminal is a lot easier than it used to be years ago, and that specific criminal could have inflicted you with misery. Surely you would want to see the burglar of your house put to justice, right?

There are two sides to the coin, and in this case it applies no less. It’s just worth bearing in mind that we are not anonymous.