Friday Notes #109 — A (Really) Bad Dream

This morning, I woke up with the remains of a bad dream. There were these diffuse thoughts that someone was trying to impersonate me online using all possible technical means: text, voice and even videos. He achieved unrivalled credibility because he knew everything about me and used the latest techniques. He knew details about my job, my hobbies, where I live, everything. How could this be even possible? Should I start to worry?

As you probably know, my hobbies revolve around writing, photography, and some podcasting. I like to write about my creative journey involving apps, services, and devices. I probably write too much about myself. Using my photos on Pixelfed, any bad actors can learn where I went, the type of travel I’m doing (like going to Italy!), and my photography style. Using my articles on my metablog and daily blog, You can find details about the apps I use and which subscription I depend on for my creative work. My personal landing page is also a source of useful information about me, like a description of my passions, my current projects, etc. Using my podcast and some readily available online tools, this bad guy could simulate my voice by using my videos and podcast episodes. I even share some of my political views about the war in Ukraine and Russian leadership!

Have you tried to google “numericcitizen” recently? 😳 What if someone created a GPT with all my past articles and photos and built a digital representation of me and my work where he could prompt ChatGPT to create fake emails, articles or images using my online presence and pretend that they come from me? I mean, it is possible right now!

Should I be less outgoing about myself? Should I care? Should I be worried? Once you put something out there on the Internet, it is safe to assume someone could use it in one way or another, not always in a good way.

This edition of the Friday Notes series is the last one for 2023. See you for the next one on the other side: 2024.