Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Some.people.would.argue.that.it.is.just.a.little.too.close.
for.comfort.to.a.world.where.a.less.benign.organization.could.
use. that. information. against. you.. In. fact,. if. you. happen. to.
end.up.on.the.wrong.side.of.law.enforcement.or.other.gov-
ernment. entities,. the. data. are. absolutely. part. of. what. they.
have. available. to. them. as. evidence. of. your. character,. your.
whereabouts,. your. habits,. and. your. personal. beliefs,. atti-
tudes,.or.preferences.
Hopefully.and.thankfully,.most.of.you.reading.this.topic.
are. not. likely. to. end. up. on. that. side. of. the. law.. However,.
there.are.many.people.throughout.the.world.who.are.access-
ing. and. using. this. same. Internet. with. the. same. or. similar.
tools.and.applications.for.whom.their.government.may.not.be.
so.benign.or.restricted.by.the.rule.of.law.and.ethics.that.we.
are.used.to.here.in.the.Western.world..For.those.people,.the.
ability.of.Internet.cache.iles.and.cookies.and.other.Internet.
storage.tools.to.capture.and.hold.such.personal.information.
can.be.a.real.threat.and.a.big.concern.
When.we.discuss.the.Internet.and.what.is.stored.there,.we.
also.need.to.consider.what.is.stored.in.that.great.online.cloud.
of.data.as.well..The.data.stored.locally.on.your.computer.is.at.
least.to.some.extent.under.your.control.
You.have.the.ability.to.delete.cache.iles.or.restrict.their.
size..You.can.delete.or.restrict.cookies.as.well..In.fact.there.
are.programs.you.can.purchase.or.load.onto.your.computer.
that.are.designed.speciically.to.make.the.management.and.
coniguration.of.those.types.of.Internet.data.stores.easier.and.
to.give.you.total.control,.even.to.the.extent.of.being.able.to.
wipe.those.iles.in.a.way.that.makes.it.hard.or.impossible.to.
recover.even.with.forensics.tools.
But.when.we.are.talking.about.the.cloud,.or.all.the.data.
created.and.stored.about.you.online,.those.controls.become.
much.more.dificult,.and.in.many.cases.impossible.
Consider.social.media.sites.such.as.Facebook,.MySpace,.
LinkedIn,.and.others..If.you.do.not.have.an.account.on.one.
of.those.sites,.you.may.not.realize.the.quantity.and.variety.of.
information.that.one.can.choose.to.store.there.
