When the Privacy You LoseIsn’t Even Yours

Some time ago I discovered by Googling myself (no, I’m not ashamed of that) that my phone number is 773-633-671, that I created the website for the Chicago Manual of Style, and—most surprising of all—that I am the author of a book about ferrets. Being naive and optimistic, I tried to get the information removed or corrected, which, I’m sure you know, is much more difficult than putting toothpaste back in the tube (which is not that hard).*

The most effective way to deal with misinformation about oneself is not to care. And over time, I truly have come not to care whether people believe that I wrote a book about ferrets. But I do continue to care about accuracy in published media. It’s something copyeditors are in a position to support.

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*V-e-r-y carefully and slowly squeeze as much air from the tube as you can without letting any more toothpaste out. Then put the mouth of the tube against the escaped toothpaste and stop squeezing. The toothpaste should slurp right on in. Repeat five hundred times.

Photo: Black Footed Ferrets, by skeeze from Pixabay.

 

Comments

[Nan]

Go, Sis! I'm glad that you're blogging. And how did I not know that you got an e-reader?

[Penny Scribbler]

I can't help but point out that according to Web 11, "google" used as a verb is lowercased. Does CMOS differ? I bet you can guess what I do for a living.

[Patrick K. Lackey]

So what are your ferrets' names?

[Carla Lomax]

There's no privacy on the Internet. However, you can either: (1) Use a false name/e-mail address/phone when tweeting or FB'ing or anything else, or (2) if someone asks, merely state, "That's the other Carol Saller."

There's is so much misinformation floating around the Internet that I figure no one can really be sure of anything.

[Panda.... rawr]

I'm an ass... i never thought abotu the privacy of others on my facebook

[telofy]

I’m glad about every false-positive a search for my name returns—each means an extra bit of privacy for me to cherish.

There is one guy with my name who plays soccer in a club. I’ve had gleeful moments imagining how some less advanced data mining tool tries to fit that to my abhorrence of the game.