Beware of digital zombies

Ongoing research on digital zombies — those old posts that come back to haunt us — demands users and companies alike rethink the nature of privacy.

When it comes to digital privacy, most people are careful not to post their phone number or home address online, yet they then proceed to share all manner of personal opinions in public forums. Oversharing is so baked into social media that few consider the consequences of telling an off-color joke or advocating a political opinion in the heat of the moment, which might later come back to haunt them.

Ongoing research looks at these so-called “digital zombies” — those old posts that seemed like a good idea at the time but now take on a different meaning as contexts and mores change. The zombie phenomenon highlights the relative nature of privacy today: beyond safeguarding our personal data, we need to appreciate how privacy is context-and-time dependent. And you don’t have to be active on social media for your past digital activity to resurrect itself with unforeseen consequences.

Each one of us leaves all kinds of digital traces, from the stories we’ve scrolled to the videos we’ve watched, and for how long. As a previous Facebook study has shown, users’ personal attributes, including their religious and political affiliations, can be accurately predicted based on just 10 likes.

As such, think twice about the views you choose to express online, and in which forums, knowing the context could always change and there will always be cyber gravediggers ready to bring your digital zombies back from the dead. Nothing stays dormant once published online. Have you seriously ever considered what kind of psychographic profile you’re generating of yourself through your daily online activity?

A serious conversation also needs to be had among service providers. How can browsers be improved to better protect users, deleting their data or reducing the amount collected and shared with third parties? How might business models that monetize our sharing need to change?

Finally, there’s no hiding behind privacy laws like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Such regulations take a long time to create and implement, and what protects you today may not be fit-for-purpose tomorrow. This reinforces the point about privacy being in a constant state of flux. Being aware of this reality is the first step toward protecting yourself from the zombie apocalypse.

READ ALSO: The contexts putting your privacy at risk