8 ms·

I didn't even consider that. All those shitty things I said when I was a teenager...

drdeadringer 9y ago
I am again reminded that "youngsters these days" pretty much no longer have this option unless their online footprint is actively managed from Day One. A part of me can't wait to see the President whose entire life can be cherry-picked from various servers and datacenters.
- zjaffee 9y ago
  This isn't necessarily true, snapchat deletes all of the physical messages sent within 30 days.
  - Xeoncross 9y ago
    Snapchat is only one of several organizations who get a copy of the messages.
    - zjaffee 9y ago
      Sure, but the point is that they aren't retained, and in turn, leave young people in a position where they won't be blackmailed as adults for the shitty things they said as a teenager on platforms they thought were safe.
      - Xeoncross 9y ago
        They are retained by the other organizations. It's good that at least snapchat itself removes it's copies though.
        spenczar5 9y ago
        Who are the other organizations? You sound super sure, I feel like I missed a news story recently that you read.
        mulmen 9y ago
        I'm not sure if there has been confirmation anywhere but it would be foolish to assume nobody is storing the messages you send on a closed platform. You don't know how it works so your only safe assumption is the worst case.
        gaius 9y ago
        We all thought Usenet was ephemeral and then Dejanews revealed themselves...
    - spenczar5 9y ago
      Didn't know that, who gets copies?
      - chatmasta 9y ago
        Not sure wha GP is referring to exactly. But at least in theory, it’s possible for Google to access the images, since they’re stored on Google servers. In practice this is very unlikely. If you save the snaps to your camera roll, then any app with photos permissions has access to them (along with any metadata). But that’s obvious.
        zmarty 9y ago
        I am astounded of the faith people still have that companies and 3 letter agencies will not store and use their data forever, after all the revelations in the past years. And to think this is YCombinator News, not some random news website.
        spenczar5 9y ago
        It's not faith, for me, I was just surprised by the confidence with which Xeoncross said that the data is copied. It sounded like this was just a public, documented fact that I missed.
        mulmen 9y ago
        Safe assumptions: 1) The network is compromised. 2) Users have hostile intent. 3) (Cloud) storage is publicly visible.
- vkou 9y ago
  The US just elected a president with decades of his incredibly shitty life cherry-picked by his detractors. I'm not sure that him having a Facebook profile at the age of 16 would have changed anything.
  - zeveb 9y ago
    Before that we had a president photographed smoking a joint as a young man; before that we had a president convicted of DUI. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- nasredin 9y ago
  >A part of me can't wait to see the President whose entire life can be cherry-picked from various servers and datacenters. So we can add porn preferences (Hi Senator Cruz!) to list of non-issues people use when choosing the leader of the free world!
  - drdeadringer 9y ago
    Anthony Weiner is another example, albeit more "stupid" than "matter of course" given today's casual "life online" du jour.
    - nasredin 9y ago
      The documentary ("Wiener" IIRC) about his run for mayor is pretty good. Like a train crash in slow motion - good.
- herbst 9y ago
  > A part of me can't wait to see the President whose entire life can be cherry-picked from various servers and datacenters. This is much more crazy the more you think about. Right now there are already thousands if not millions of kids who will never be able to get a higher up political position because of what they shared on social media.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    Pot has been legalised. At least in some jurisdictions. Attitudes change. Sometimes profoundly. It can be quite disconcerting when it happens. (Or when you realise you're living in the aftermath of some previous Great Shift.)
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
For me, it's not the shitty things I said. It's the things that I thought were eloquent and insightful and informative and good, that now cause me to cringe. Kind of like looking at some old code, wondering what illiterate chimpanzee produced that mess, and realizing it was you... That said, the first messages from my wife to me still make me smile, and I'm sure that my responses that make me cringe would make her smile.

I am again reminded that "youngsters these days" pretty much no longer have this option unless their online footprint is actively managed from Day One. A part of me can't wait to see the President whose entire life can be cherry-picked from various servers and datacenters.

zjaffee 9y ago
This isn't necessarily true, snapchat deletes all of the physical messages sent within 30 days.
- Xeoncross 9y ago
  Snapchat is only one of several organizations who get a copy of the messages.
  - zjaffee 9y ago
    Sure, but the point is that they aren't retained, and in turn, leave young people in a position where they won't be blackmailed as adults for the shitty things they said as a teenager on platforms they thought were safe.
    - Xeoncross 9y ago
      They are retained by the other organizations. It's good that at least snapchat itself removes it's copies though.
      - spenczar5 9y ago
        Who are the other organizations? You sound super sure, I feel like I missed a news story recently that you read.
        mulmen 9y ago
        I'm not sure if there has been confirmation anywhere but it would be foolish to assume nobody is storing the messages you send on a closed platform. You don't know how it works so your only safe assumption is the worst case.
        gaius 9y ago
        We all thought Usenet was ephemeral and then Dejanews revealed themselves...
  - spenczar5 9y ago
    Didn't know that, who gets copies?
    - chatmasta 9y ago
      Not sure wha GP is referring to exactly. But at least in theory, it’s possible for Google to access the images, since they’re stored on Google servers. In practice this is very unlikely. If you save the snaps to your camera roll, then any app with photos permissions has access to them (along with any metadata). But that’s obvious.
      - zmarty 9y ago
        I am astounded of the faith people still have that companies and 3 letter agencies will not store and use their data forever, after all the revelations in the past years. And to think this is YCombinator News, not some random news website.
        spenczar5 9y ago
        It's not faith, for me, I was just surprised by the confidence with which Xeoncross said that the data is copied. It sounded like this was just a public, documented fact that I missed.
        mulmen 9y ago
        Safe assumptions: 1) The network is compromised. 2) Users have hostile intent. 3) (Cloud) storage is publicly visible.
vkou 9y ago
The US just elected a president with decades of his incredibly shitty life cherry-picked by his detractors. I'm not sure that him having a Facebook profile at the age of 16 would have changed anything.
- zeveb 9y ago
  Before that we had a president photographed smoking a joint as a young man; before that we had a president convicted of DUI. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
nasredin 9y ago
>A part of me can't wait to see the President whose entire life can be cherry-picked from various servers and datacenters. So we can add porn preferences (Hi Senator Cruz!) to list of non-issues people use when choosing the leader of the free world!
- drdeadringer 9y ago
  Anthony Weiner is another example, albeit more "stupid" than "matter of course" given today's casual "life online" du jour.
  - nasredin 9y ago
    The documentary ("Wiener" IIRC) about his run for mayor is pretty good. Like a train crash in slow motion - good.
herbst 9y ago
> A part of me can't wait to see the President whose entire life can be cherry-picked from various servers and datacenters. This is much more crazy the more you think about. Right now there are already thousands if not millions of kids who will never be able to get a higher up political position because of what they shared on social media.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  Pot has been legalised. At least in some jurisdictions. Attitudes change. Sometimes profoundly. It can be quite disconcerting when it happens. (Or when you realise you're living in the aftermath of some previous Great Shift.)

LeifCarrotson 9y ago

For me, it's not the shitty things I said. It's the things that I thought were eloquent and insightful and informative and good, that now cause me to cringe. Kind of like looking at some old code, wondering what illiterate chimpanzee produced that mess, and realizing it was you... That said, the first messages from my wife to me still make me smile, and I'm sure that my responses that make me cringe would make her smile.