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4 - Personal Pasts

from Part II - Shaping Our Pasts and Futures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2021

Glen Whelan
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

This chapter explains how Alphabet is influencing the construction and experiencing of pasts at the personal level. To provide some context, it is first noted that various key players associated with the megacorporation have suggested that privacy is (currently) dead. This death is then posited as being the result of our growing digital dossiers: i.e. the collection and storing of digital traces that can be associated with specific people. Following this, the chapter differentiates between two approaches – one more careful and the other more carefree – that individuals can employ when seeking to manage or account for the recallable pasts that are continuously being created by, and for, themselves. Finally, the chapter’s summary notes that – with specific regard to its impact on our personal pasts – Alphabet’s megacorporate status is not so much illustrated by the fact that many express concern about our growing digital dossiers, as it is by so many appearing to have already accepted that such growth is inevitable, and even desirable.

Type
Chapter
Information
Megacorporation
The Infinite Times of Alphabet
, pp. 71 - 92
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Personal Pasts
  • Glen Whelan, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Megacorporation
  • Online publication: 06 April 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108626095.007
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  • Personal Pasts
  • Glen Whelan, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Megacorporation
  • Online publication: 06 April 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108626095.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Personal Pasts
  • Glen Whelan, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Megacorporation
  • Online publication: 06 April 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108626095.007
Available formats
×