Digital ID Coach

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future, history, records digital persona, digital profile, Facebook, life streaming, records, social media

A Digital Self

May 10th, 2009

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Mike Elgan blogged in Computerworld about Why you should digitize ‘everything’. In his post, he noted two reasons that triggered his thinking: moving and disasters. In his case, he downsized to be more mobile (a personal choice). The disaster was the Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara.* Elgan noted about his process:

Because much of our stuff was poorly organized, we slogged through every possession, every box, every drawer and considered what to do with every possession we own. Besides being extraordinarily time consuming, the process was also very difficult. When it comes to deciding whether to keep or discard something, where do you draw the line? Old holiday and birthday cards? OK, those can be discarded. Mother’s day cards from kids? Hmmm. Trophies? Yikes! There are a million items that make you feel a loss when you toss, but if you keep them, they’ll be buried unseen for decades.

It’s these same items that are irreplaceable after an unexpected fire, flood, hurricane or other regional or personal disaster.

The solution is to digitize everything. Here’s how.

While Elgan’s experience and advice is very practical, it also raises a larger unanswered question: how do we determine the value of a life writ large? Some might argue that when your stuff (house, furniture, belongings) is gone, and once we die, that’s it–there is no more to it here on earth. However, anyone that has moved away from or lost a really good friend or loved one, or a personally and deeply meaningful artifact or heirloom, the loss is devastating. Funerals are a way to acknowledge the loss, remember the influences of that life, and begin healing.

The question of value remains though. For practical reasons, our insurance company will assign a cost (according to the terms of your policy) for replacement of the physical thing. Similarly, insurance companies and courts may determine the cost of a life wrongfully taken. We know that’s not the right way to frame the question.

What’s lost? The teachings and wisdom, the reflections of accomplishments and memories of proud moments, the documentation or proof of something miraculous. These are not quantifiable, nor do they have a fixed place in history. They are the things that make us who we are as individuals, friends and lovers, and as a culture.

Coaching moment: Take a walk around your house. Is there a box or drawer that you haven’t opened in a few years? Do you remember what’s inside? Does it represent value to you or anyone in your life? If not, box and tape it up, then hand it to a trusted friend to dispose of. You have just lightened your life. Doesn’t that feel good?

If you’ve recently been through a disaster and lost valuables, set aside a couple of days (yes, put this on your calendar as “Do Not Disturb” time) and write stories about those things. If you get stuck or don’t know how to begin, try a description of what it was, and how you felt about it, or how it came to you. If you don’t have online accounts in which to put these things, ask friends to help you. The past and present is in your hands.

* A thank you to Mike for the tweet that helped me alert my friends who also live in the area. That was an unusual moment in time.

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friends/family, history, records artifacts, digital identity, digital life, digitize, documentation, history, memorabilia, Mike Elgan, records, reminders

Your Citizen-Self

April 16th, 2009

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Yesterday was April 15, which in the United States is a day of particular significance: Tax Day.

For most people Tax Day is a day of dread: they calculate (using increasingly complex rules) how much money they made during the year, how much of it was taxable, and how much money they owe the government. By midnight, the forms and money need to be postmarked and/or filed with the United States Treasury. After all, it’s “very expensive to run a government,” especially these days.

For nearly all of us, Tax Day also signifies our citizenship in the United States (our national identity) and of the state in which we are “domiciled” (where we live with intent to stay). Some parts of our lives that contribute to and define this identity:

Federal	State
Our voting registration and records, which are supposed to be anonymous but for the fact that we showed up at the polls Our passport, which allows us to travel out of the country Our social security number and records Our tax records Other records	Our Driver’s license Our real property, taxes and records Business and other licenses Other records

Coaching moment: What’s with the Other Records?

Various things (activities, circumstances, events) might result in our having other records with the government. These things may or may not be recorded with your knowledge. For example, have you ever applied for citizenship in another country? been in a public place where surveillance cameras are running? have the same name as someone famous? Sometimes it’s the crazy stuff that gets recorded. You might be interested to know about this other information that the government has on you.

You have access to government records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).The National Freedom of Information Coalition has a great page with sample FOIA letters that you can use to find out who knows what. You’ll need to write at least a couple of letters–to the Federal government and to the state(s) where you have lived.

Knowledge is power. If you want to know what these agencies know about you, it’s worth your time to write some letters (keep track of whom you wrote) and find out what, if anything, they have about you. After all, this is Your Citizen-Self.

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history, records, tools DOJ, FBI, Federal, Federal government, FOIA, government, government agencies, NFIC, records, State, United States, write a letter

Your Digital Dossier

April 10th, 2009

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We know so little about what’s in our “permanent records” and yet those records can have such a significant impact on what we do–and are allowed by others to do.

The first we might learn about this is in elementary school, when someone threatens us with a mark in our “permanent record.” Most people don’t give their records much thought, believing that certain entries expire. While this may be true (tickets disappear from our driving record after 7 years, and a bankruptcy from our financial records after 10 years. However, we don’t know and often can’t confirm the removal of anything from today’s digital records, since the urge to save data is so strong by people creating the databases, and the cost to save data is so small.

Coaching moment: It’s an informative and practical exercise to take a period of time and create your own digital dossier that says everything about you. Take notes on where you went, what you spent, how long you took and what considerations aided you in making a decision, who you talked with, what you said. Make your notes as detailed as possible, since in some situations your conversations or travels are being monitored by videos.

At the end of your recording period, look back to see what you recorded. Now here comes the fun part: what could someone who didn’t know you misconstrue or misunderstand? What information could be taken out of context and be used in a harmful way?

Remember: it’s not that you don’t have anything to hide. It’s that the power to use your data isn’t in your hands.

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friends/family, history, records context, digital dossier, disclosure, dossier, records, surveillance

On Managing One’s Identity

December 7th, 2008

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This video, an Introduction to Digital Identity by Stefan Brands is from the Google Tech Talk series. This talk was held about a year ago (Jan. 25, 2007). Its an hour long, so get your drinks and munchies ready. As Google Tech Talks go, this one is not overly technical.

Note: the volume is a bit unstable in this video. It starts out loud, about 5 minutes in goes quiet, and continues to change periodically.

Google Tech Talks
January 25, 2007

ABSTRACT

Identity management is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of electronic communication and transaction systems. Applications such as electronic commerce, social networking, electronic health record management, government online, and enterprise identity and access management all critically rely on the ability to manage, provision, and authenticate the “identities” of people, devices, processes, and other entities. Three approaches to identity management can be distinguished: silo identity management, federated identity management, and user-centric identity management. Each of these has unique characteristics with regards to security, privacy, …

Coaching moment: In this video, you see an introduction to user-based identity. You’ll also hear that this is where the friction starts to develop as people and corporate interests start to disagree on how to implement the future. If you’d like to have a say in one future or another, learn more about the topics of single sign-on, user-centric or user-driven services, and tools to control your digital domain. Talk with your friends about it so the terms become familiar. The stronger our collective personal voice, the harder it will be to erase our personal interests.

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