The Virtue Of Forgetting In The Age Of Ubiquitous Computing

Ubiquitous computing is a concept that blends computing with the environment. Such an intangible computing model occurs anytime and anywhere, presenting a memory pattern in which it is hardly possible to forget. Copying and saving personal data incessantly, pervasive memory becomes a potential threat to individual information security. Any currently inessential data might cast an irreversible impact on the data subject in the future. Therefore, in the context of ubiquitous computing and pervasive memory, the treatment of personal data becomes a crucial issue.Based on the ubiquitous computing age, this thesis is going to discuss several subjects. First of all, this thesis defines the concept of ubiquitous computing. Secondly, this thesis demonstrates the pervasiveness, transparency, and adaptivity of ubiquitous computing. Thirdly, this thesis investigates the contrast between pervasive memory and the human nature of forgetting. Fourthly, this thesis analyses the ethical issues pervasive memory might incur in terms of personal privacy, information environment, and autonomous network space. Fifthly, this thesis distinguishes between personal data and privacy. Sixthly, this thesis studies the Internet privacy policy and the infringement of personal privacy. Seventhly, this thesis inquires data redundancy, data abuse, and treatment of invalid data. Last but not least, this thesis illustrates the formation of digitized panopticon, network surveillance and individual freedom. This thesis unfolds the challenges the ubiquitous computing age brings to individual lives, reveals the importance of the right to be forgotten, and proposes that every data subject should be entitled to such a right. Moreover, this thesis argues that in the ubiquitous computing age, the virtue of forgetting is urgently needed, especially by relative subjects such as governments, enterprises, and merchants. This thesis also comes up with several criteria of data ethics, including moderate data sharing principle, reasonable deleting principle, and principle of informed consent.