Your past may come back to haunt you.

[pantodragon]

This happened to me recently: someone on a forum I was a member of chose to google me and came up with some old website I had made. This had been done with hostile intent. This member had taken against me and was, basically, looking for much to rake! She appeared to have found it: there was stuff on this website that did not present me in a good light.

This is bad enough: to think that anything you write on the Internet, no matter how long ago, may be found at any time in the future, and you may be held to account. At its most benign, it is like meeting some old person who used to know you as a child and they proceed to tell all and sundry all sorts of embarrassing details about your childhood transgressions. In a somewhat less benign context, think of how delighted McCarthy of ‘reds-under-the-beds’ notoriety in the USA would have been to be able to get access to the Internet! He would have had a field day mining every last detail of his victims lives on the internet, every last word they had ever written, every last item they had ever bought, every last YouTube or blog or website they had ever accessed, every last game they had played, every last item they had looked up on Wikipedia etc etc. Then every one of his victims would have had to account for every last detail or face the consequences.

Well, McCarthy may be dead, but his spirit lives on. When the FBI or the CIA or MI5 or MI6 or the KGB or any other ‘police’ organisation want to go on a witch hunt for terrorists, or whoever happens to be the latest ‘danger to society’, then their first port of call will be the internet – and heaven help anyone who has ever used certain words, visited certain websites, been members of certain forums, bought certain items etc etc, or even corresponded with anyone else who has done so, at any time in their past … you will be held to account.

That old website of mine that was dug up: I was going round trying out the various free website builders. Well, to try out a site-builder, you build a site, and you have to put something on it. I am very creative. I write fiction and paint fantasy pictures etc etc, so when I am trying out a site-builder I use my imagination for content – I see it as a creative exercise. So my trial websites (and there are some I created 10 or more years ago that are still around, but I can’t access because have forgotten passwords etc) could, and do, contain all sorts of stuff which could come back to haunt me – well, in fact, has already started to come back to haunt me. OK, so this time it was just some ill-intentioned member of a forum, but next time……?

This world of ours is full of fear and paranoia, and it seems to me that it is growing. I have certainly watched paranoia becoming ever more apparent on the internet, and, as people wake up to how vulnerable it makes them, they are going to get ever more paranoid.

It seems to me that the internet is going to become a major source of fear and paranoia in our society. Of course when that happens, people will be ‘crippled’: they will become super-careful about everything they say and do on the internet. Where the internet started out as being the place where anyone could have their say, and say whatever they thought and felt, it will become the place where no-one dare say or do anything that is not strictly pc. Self-censorship will become extreme.

The internet is set on the road to becoming a nightmare.

[ExpandMyMind]

"Your past may come back to haunt you"

When does it not?

[Ashotep]

Quite often things done in the past don't stay in the past especially if you keep mementos of it.

If you have been in this website on your present computer you might try going to the old website and go up to tools and click on page info. If you have a password stored it should tell you what it is. I don't know what you are using but Firefox has that option.

[No Censorship]

"Your past may come back to haunt you"

When does it not?

It's doubtful that your high school shenanigans are on You Tube, though. I'm glad that mine aren't.

[ali smack]

I don't need to worry about the internet. Don't use same username on anything else I go on on the net.

And I have not done anything wrong.

if you havn't done anything wrong why should anyone be worried

Edited March 9, 2013 by ali smack

[ciriuslea]

I think you haunt yourself with your own past.

[Bonecrusher]

I think my past is going to bite me in the butt!

I've got so many skeletons in my closet.

[Guest Nathan DiYorio]

The Internet has always been a place of paranoia. When I was in elementary school and the Internet was new, we used to have all kinds of special "Internet Safety" classes, and every other week it seemed like some other unsuspecting child was being molested and murdered by some asswipe they met online. Hell, if the internet hadn't always been a place of paranoia, "How to Catch a Predator" would never have taken off.

On the contrary to your thesis, I believe the Internet is only now beginning to open up and embrace a merge with real life and lose the stigma of a breeding ground for sexual deviants. And I believe that over time, possibly in the next ten or so years, we'll see a cultural shift that will allow a little more wiggle room when it comes to things which have been dug up from the depths of Google.

[No Censorship]

The Internet has always been a place of paranoia. When I was in elementary school and the Internet was new, we used to have all kinds of special "Internet Safety" classes, and every other week it seemed like some other unsuspecting child was being molested and murdered by some asswipe they met online. Hell, if the internet hadn't always been a place of paranoia, "How to Catch a Predator" would never have taken off.

On the contrary to your thesis, I believe the Internet is only now beginning to open up and embrace a merge with real life and lose the stigma of a breeding ground for sexual deviants. And I believe that over time, possibly in the next ten or so years, we'll see a cultural shift that will allow a little more wiggle room when it comes to things which have been dug up from the depths of Google.

How deep is that Google hole? One wonders how long they really go back. You don't have to be paranoid to think that all communications are saved and stored in a permanent database. The NSA probably operates it. They keep our information so that they can use it if and when they need to do so. All that we do on our computer probably is in our personal digital diary at the new NSA behemoth in Nevada. The agents can fish as much as they wish. Their nets are so wide that they *have* to catch something.

[MrY]

Dude unless you did something that would send you to Gitmo you'll be fine. Live in the present not the past. No one cares what you did on the Internet 10 years ago.

[No Censorship]

Dude unless you did something that would send you to Gitmo you'll be fine. Live in the present not the past. No one cares what you did on the Internet 10 years ago.

What if you inadvertently communicated with a guy in the IRA? You just discussed U2 with him, but your emails are linked to a guy who's involved in terrorism.

[pantodragon]

It's doubtful that your high school shenanigans are on You Tube, though. I'm glad that mine aren't.

You've just reminded me of all the ways in which one is being recorded for posterity, often without one's knowledge or collusion. There's all those phone cameras clicking away indiscriminately, plus of course the old video cameras and people love to put it on the internet. So, actually, your high school shenanigans could well be on there (depending on your age, of course).

[pantodragon]

I don't need to worry about the internet. Don't use same username on anything else I go on on the net.

And I have not done anything wrong.

if you havn't done anything wrong why should anyone be worried

This is naive. There are many ways one is tracked on the internet just changing one's user name is trivial and no impediment whatsoever.

As to not doing anything wrong, that's a matter of fashion. Twenty years ago, you could have used the name Osama bin-laden (sp?) without turning a hair, but today, you would be viewed with suspicion for mentioning the name in any emails etc. --- the FBI and other organisations have email scanning which searches for listed words and names. So, beware! Also, as I mentioned above, can you be sure that no one you have been in contact with is never going to be on the suspect list, and so put you on the list by association. And again, do you have any interest in fiction? You may post a short story on the internet or some other form of fiction, and it may well be treated as more than it really is if you mention the wrong organisations etc. The CIA etc are in the business of being paranoid --- they go for maximum suspicion, preferring to err on the side of "caution", which means that they will NOT give you the benefit of the doubt. Have a look at the Leonardo DiCaprio film "J Edgar".

And all this does not take account of the fact that mis-carriages of justice are common --- in other words, you only have to have material on the internet which by chance catches someone's attention (the material could be entirely inncoent) and the next thing you know, someone's accusing you of something and you are wrongly convicted.

Edited March 14, 2013 by pantodragon

[pantodragon]

The Internet has always been a place of paranoia. When I was in elementary school and the Internet was new, we used to have all kinds of special "Internet Safety" classes, and every other week it seemed like some other unsuspecting child was being molested and murdered by some asswipe they met online. Hell, if the internet hadn't always been a place of paranoia, "How to Catch a Predator" would never have taken off.

On the contrary to your thesis, I believe the Internet is only now beginning to open up and embrace a merge with real life and lose the stigma of a breeding ground for sexual deviants. And I believe that over time, possibly in the next ten or so years, we'll see a cultural shift that will allow a little more wiggle room when it comes to things which have been dug up from the depths of Google.

My point is that the internet is NOT different from everything else. It has long been known that if one has anything to hide, one should not put anything in writing. So, even in pre-internet days, people were cautious about what they put on paper, and shredding machines were invented for a very good reason. So the internet is just part of the same culture. The only difference is, is that everything is, as it were, in writing and you can't shred it.

[pantodragon]

Dude unless you did something that would send you to Gitmo you'll be fine. Live in the present not the past. No one cares what you did on the Internet 10 years ago.

I seem to remember a time when the McCarthy witch hunts forced its victims to account for all sorts of things they did in their youth. If you are being vetted for many jobs, the FBI being the obvious one, but schools, health services (especially those dealing with children) are becoming more and more intrusive and forcing one to reveal one's entire life. In the future, that may be a matter of doing a search of the internet to ensure no misdemeanours therein. This is our culture. So yes, lots of people care what one did on the internet 10 years ago and it's getting worse, not better.

[Bonecrusher]

Tbh I'm not worried about the past coming to haunt me from the direction of the Internet.There is a few skeletons but nothing to give me long-term discomfort.Unless a few trolls cotton on to me here.Then it will be like feeding time at the zoo.However their actions are not going to affect what I'm doing in the future.You could say I'm a refugee!However there is a few posts on Facebook that could cause some damage.

However my domestic situation is more cause for concern.A lot of crap has got past the radar when I used to work at Remploy.I've been in a few meetings discussing my discipline.So I've got written and verbal warnings which have been blissfully struck off.The last two years I have kept my nose clean though and avoided throwing a sickie.I just hope they don't bring my bad behavior into consideration when they come to the intervews.But my service record is exemplory.However I'm not joking when something will be bite me in the ass. It might be from when I was a little headstrong when I was younger.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Medium Brown

[No Censorship]

You've just reminded me of all the ways in which one is being recorded for posterity, often without one's knowledge or collusion. There's all those phone cameras clicking away indiscriminately, plus of course the old video cameras and people love to put it on the internet. So, actually, your high school shenanigans could well be on there (depending on your age, of course).

That's a great point! Now, I'm more paranoid. It really doesn't even matter if you're old or young. Someone could post your grandpa's embarrassing high school photos.

[No Censorship]

Tbh I'm not worried about the past coming to haunt me from the direction of the Internet.There is a few skeletons but nothing to give me long-term discomfort.Unless a few trolls cotton on to me here.Then it will be like feeding time at the zoo.However their actions are not going to affect what I'm doing in the future.You could say I'm a refugee!However there is a few posts on Facebook that could cause some damage.

However my domestic situation is more cause for concern.A lot of crap has got past the radar when I used to work at Remploy.I've been in a few meetings discussing my discipline.So I've got written and verbal warnings which have been blissfully struck off.The last two years I have kept my nose clean though and avoided throwing a sickie.I just hope they don't bring my bad behavior into consideration when they come to the intervews.But my service record is exemplory.However I'm not joking when something will be bite me in the ass. It might be from when I was a little headstrong when I was younger.

Your post shows why college students and high school students should be careful when they party. Their activities might show up on someone's Facebook page. It's bad enough that such material might be seen by people involved in their lives. The police can see them too.

[Bonecrusher]

Your post shows why college students and high school students should be careful when they party. Their activities might show up on someone's Facebook page. It's bad enough that such material might be seen by people involved in their lives. The police can see them too.

Lol.You have totally got the wrong end of the stick!This isn't about High School.I'm talking about guys I have met recently.Not somebody from Failsworth Comprehensive twenty- five years ago.My old school mates are not going to have an impact to the extent where they rattle my bones.There is every likelihood I won't see them again.So there's nothing in that particular past that will haunt me. That part is securely padlocked.Besides I was more sulky than rowdy at school.Despite my optimistic description of them being school mates I wasn't really part of the " in" crowd.

My headstrong ways came from my formulative years at Remploy.But because the Internet was a twinkle in Donald Davis's eyes there's no record of any of my teenage sins.So I'm in the clear.It's just that I had severe mood swings at work when things were running far from smoothly in my home life.But nothing to the extent where I pulled my pants down and mooned the factory manager.However these Internet trolls did have the mentality of a teenager.In fact I could be really cruel and call then pre-teens.So you could be accurate about High School after a fashion.

It's also worthy to mention that my former workmates are not High School students.Any mistakes are truly my own doing.So in a way I'm totally vindicating them.Because it was actually me acting like a monkey on Facebook!Though with a bit of water going under the bridge the only evidence you've got is a single month.It only takes one curious person to see what's hidden.This particular message is hinting I'm a quitter.Not the kind of thing that will look pleasing to the eye on any further resume.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Medium Brown

[Purplos]

I run several businesses online and, like the OP, have made quite a few free websites WAY back in the day, and submitted quite a few articles WAY back in the day that could definitely come back to haunt me. Not because they are connected to something nefarious, but because they are so poor quality. I do not want a potential client googling me and finding some flashy, neon green, Comic Sans freebie site I made in 1995.

I constantly come across Facebook posts and comments and pictures on sites that I just know someone is going to regret when they're older. Employers Google applicants these days. Bosses friend you on Facebook. The real danger of the internet kids should be taught is how to uphold a good reputation on it.

[No Censorship]

Lol.You have totally got the wrong end of the stick!This isn't about High School.I'm talking about guys I have met recently.Not somebody from Failsworth Comprehensive twenty- five years ago.My old school mates are not going to have an impact to the extent where they rattle my bones.There is every likelihood I won't see them again.So there's nothing in that particular past that will haunt me. That part is securely padlocked.Besides I was more sulky than rowdy at school.Despite my optimistic description of them being school mates I wasn't really part of the " in" crowd.

My headstrong ways came from my formulative years at Remploy.But because the Internet was a twinkle in Donald Davis's eyes there's no record of any of my teenage sins.So I'm in the clear.It's just that I had severe mood swings at work when things were running far from smoothly in my home life.But nothing to the extent where I pulled my pants down and mooned the factory manager.However these Internet trolls did have the mentality of a teenager.In fact I could be really cruel and call then pre-teens.So you could be accurate about High School after a fashion.

It's also worthy to mention that my former workmates are not High School students.Any mistakes are truly my own doing.So in a way I'm totally vindicating them.Because it was actually me acting like a monkey on Facebook!Though with a bit of water going under the bridge the only evidence you've got is a single month.It only takes one curious person to see what's hidden.This particular message is hinting I'm a quitter.Not the kind of thing that will look pleasing to the eye on any further resume.

I understand. I mean that college students and high school students could learn something by reading your post. They could learn that nothing online is truly private. You might as well leave your diary at the busiest part of Main Street. That's a good point about "one person". Sometimes, that's all it takes. You never know who's reading and watching your online journal. That's one of the reasons that I refuse to use Facebook.

[Bonecrusher]

I understand. I mean that college students and high school students could learn something by reading your post. They could learn that nothing online is truly private. You might as well leave your diary at the busiest part of Main Street. That's a good point about "one person". Sometimes, that's all it takes. You never know who's reading and watching your online journal. That's one of the reasons that I refuse to use Facebook.

It's a good thing I've chosen a wise username.It's not very inspiring but it keeps away the identify thieves and stalkers.I don't think any of the keywords in my previous post would reveal my full name,address,post code,national insurance number and even the PIN code for my bank card.I might have said Failsworth Comprehensive but I assure you I've not been part of any school reunions least of all invited to them.Besides there's plenty of alumni in circulation out there.I didn't say which Remploy.This particular one you've got four of us living in Middleton.Three of us have an active online presence while the other dosn't do anything more technological than have a cup of tea and slice of cake.

This Jonnny Come Lately will have to be really accomplished at hacking to get hold of the Remploy personnel files.The only people who know me by my real name actually know me in person.These trolls I keep twittering on about will only try to harass me.The reason why I've not come across them in real life because they are all mouth and no action.However one user here nearly got my full address but I pulled out at the last minute.It's also worth pointing out that Boney is just an other of my generic aliases.However my Photobucket account name is more obvious and copyrighted to the hilt.Despite all that there's layers upon layers where you need to be very tenacious to crack the code.

However Facebook is essential for all the latest gossip.I use it like a rock to lean on.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Medium Brown

[Bonecrusher]

Well I did have a wise surname.Sorry but I made an impulsive decision.I honestly think I'm not going to get any comebacks from this.Not even the trolls have this information.Call me naive but I feel as safe as houses.Now I've done it I feel more human.Which is the main thing.I'm beginning to trust people here.Besides nobody knows my Christian name so it could still be a stretch for any wannabe hacker.I don't think you are going to get any banking details from that.So apologies in advance.

Edited March 16, 2013 by G Donnelly

[No Censorship]

Well I did have a wise surname.Sorry but I made an impulsive decision.I honestly think I'm not going to get any comebacks from this.Not even the trolls have this information.Call me naive but I feel as safe as houses.Now I've done it I feel more human.Which is the main thing.I'm beginning to trust people here.Besides nobody knows my Christian name so it could still be a stretch for any wannabe hacker.I don't think you are going to get any banking details from that.So apologies in advance.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like you've had problems with hackers and/or stalkers in the past. I hope that things have improved for you. It's hard to shake all of the vestiges of past encounters when you've undergone pseudo-traumatic experiences with snoops who try to violate your privacy. It's difficult to not be paranoid.

[Jinxdom]

Meh, I don't think it comes back to haunt but to show how much you changed. My old work vs my new work, old me vs new me. It only looks bad if you only have two websites on in 10 years and one is 10 years ago and 1 is right now but if you have 30 or so improving all along the way, it actually shows that you work hard to improve yourself and you are not deceptive.

Even when I had a Facebook account, I put up my party pictures but also of other things so it balanced out. Even the little things I will let out like first high school and other password accounts restore information questions. (There is a place and time to lie, where did you go to high school on a retrieve password form is one of those times ) . It just shows that I'm human.

Now if you go around just picking fights with people and other nasty things(an ex-girlfriend or two comes to mind ) that people hide then yeah it won't just haunt you but latch on like a pitbull.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Jinxdom