I started losing my digital privacy in 1974, aged 11

We already live in a world where pretty much every public act — online or in the real world — leaves a mark in a database somewhere. But how far back does that record extend? I recently learned that record goes back further than I’d seriously imagined.

On my recent tour of the United States (making it through immigration checks in record time, thanks to facial recognition), I caught that bug, the same one that brought the world to a halt half a decade ago. But I caught it early, so I knew that I could probably get some treatment.

That led to a quick trip to an ‘Urgent Care’ — the frontline medical center for most Americans. At the check-in counter, the check-in nurse asked to see some ID, so I handed over my Australian driver’s license. The nurse looked at the license and typed some of the info on it into a computer, then they looked up at me and asked: “Are you the same Mark Pesce who lived at…?” and then proceeded to recite an address that I resided at more than half a century ago.

Dumbstruck, I said, “Yes…? And how did you know that? I haven’t lived there in nearly 50 years. I’ve never been in here before — I’ve barely ever been in this town before. Where did that come from?”