Erasing David

Do we still have privacy in today’s world? When talking about Google in one of my previous posts, I already mentioned that internet knows a lot about you. But what to think of private companies and the government? British filmmaker David Bond decided to find out how much these institutions know about him by putting himself under surveillance and attempting to disappear. Indeed, you read it well: disappear. Erase yourself from the earth.

The UK is now one of the most advanced surveillance societies in the world (but don’t be fooled, your country probably also watches you). The average UK adult is now registered on over 700 databases and is caught daily on one of the cameras located on nearly every street corner in the country. Privacy, yeah right. It is like all citizens are being turned into suspects. But if you’ve got nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear… Or is there? (I feel like I am writing some really exciting action movie now)

David Bond left his pregnant wife and child behind to disappear. Top private investigators took on the challenge to find him. They only had David’s name, photo and 30 days to catch him. Facebook, credit card numbers, addresses, hospital appointments, friends, family: they tracked everything. With a little bit of lying, some sneaky actions and the information of databases and internet you can come far. For example, the investigators set up a site called whereisdavid.co.uk and send David an email saying, “Hey, we know where you are! And here it is on this website”. Remember the IP-addresses we talked about? If David would visit the site, they would know where he was. And what about Facebook? David deleted his Facebook page before he left, but most of the information is not totally deleted. If you’re a private investigator, it is a piece of cake to find that information. And if you can’t find the information, you just set up a fake Facebook profile of the person you are looking for. It’s exactly what they did and that’s how the investigators got information from David’s friends. Or how about corporations? The loyalty cards from your favorite shops, the digital newsletters to keep you up to date. You are in a database and you can be found.

So, did the investigators catch David Bond (his last name fits so well for this documentary, doesn’t it? The name is Bond… David Bond)? Yes, they did. A few days before the end, they caught him. Privacy: I don’t think so.

Trailer Erasing David