Trust and Betrayal Online and Offline
When site reliability engineer David Barksdale was fired from his job at Google for allegedly using his position to cyberstalk teens with Google Talk accounts, it sent a shiver across the Internet. The idea that a creepy geek working for one of the world’s biggest technology companies could use his combination of technical acumen and privileged access to spy on young citizens seemed to raise the worst kind of privacy fears. More than learning information carelessly or ignorantly posted online, Barksdale’s supposed deeds evoked darker images, the sort from which Chris Hansen has made a comfortable living capturing on video. As part of his job, Barksdale had the keys to the digital kingdom and could pry into the profiles and accounts of individuals who trusted Google and used the company’s services to communicate with others in what they believed to be security and confidentiality.
