Thursday, November 25, 2010

[iydpkisy] Secret Keeper

Create a DISTRIBUTED social network where one possible unilateral friend relationship is "Secret Keeper", granting the friend ultimate trust: read only access to everything you do, even beyond, or perhaps especially beyond, the bounds of the social network: email, online medical records, credit cards and other financials, messages to lovers, etc.

I have little clue of how to implement this.  Maybe screen scraper and keystroke recorder?  Some common delegation API tied to single sign on? Google, which already has a massive view of much of your online activity, could implement this on its own, finally getting the social network it envies.

In real life, a person does sometimes trust another that much, for examples, marriages, attorney-client, doctor-patient, parent-child, executive personal assistant.  The general idea is having someone else be able to look at your life not-so-personally may help you live your life better.  It is often the deeply personal stuff where you could use the most help.

Legally, you might have some recourse if a Secret Keeper betrays you and takes some action to hurt you.  Is it possible to set up a relationship between friends to be legally privileged communication?

Computer security is an issue: you are not just trusting your friend, but also the security of their computer.

Inspired by Harry Potter, where your Secret Keeper does have the power to destroy you.

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