The digital persona and its application to data surveillance

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Abstract
The digital persona is a model of the individual established through the collection, storage, and analysis of data about that person. It is a useful and even necessary concept for developing an understanding of the behavior of the new, networked world. This paper introduces the model, traces its origins, and provides examples of its application. It is suggested that an understanding of many aspects of network behavior will be enabled or enhanced by applying this concept. The digital persona is also a potentially threatening, demeaning, and perhaps socially dangerous phenomenon. One area in which its more threatening aspects require consideration is in data surveillance, the monitoring of people through their data. Data surveillance provides an economically efficient means of exercising control over the behavior of individuals and societies. The manner in which the digital persona contributes to an understanding of particular dataveillance techniques such as computer matching and profiling is discussed, and risks inherent in monitoring of digital personae are outlined.