However, did you look at the date on it? Jan. 10, 1991. Twelve years ago. Seven years before Google was launched. Nine(?) years before Google Groups had them archived and indexed on the web.

He was a freaking freshman in college, and made a silly remark. But thanks to Google, there’s a permanent record of it.

Yes, in 2003 we can safely bear in mind principles like “Don’t post anything online unless you want the whole world to see it”, but who’s to say what the future holds?

What if someone buys eBay, and “private” purchases are there for everyone to see?

Or if some offshore company makes everyone’s arrest, driving, or credit record available?

It sounds far-fetched, but hey … who, in 1991, would think that some AOL-using granny could find a quip posted in the dark, obscure corners of Usenet?

If you blog about your life, eventually you run into the question of whether it’s appropriate to blog about Person X or Topic X. I’m continually impressed by people who are able to be way the hell out there, and still walk the line of being respectful of other people and *their* privacy at the same time.

Well, when it *was* the old Usenet, you could delete your own posts. Now that Google’s taken over, the rules have changed, retroactively.

Also, “big brother” seems to indicate the government, or some government-like corporations. I think it’s the wrong term, when you’re more concerned with, say, your mother or prospective investors finding this:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=1991Jan11.073833.14136%40ux1.cso.uiuc.edu