The term “German Angst” is now known worldwide. Bearing doubts, we are and will remain the world market leader. And anyone who thinks that Germany has missed out on digitization is seriously mistaken: Nowhere else is concern about the Internet as great as in this country. According to current survey around a third of Germans would like to be simply deleted from the Internet.
While Silicon Valley is dreaming up digital twins, we Germans just want to know how we can bring this virtual self around the corner as inconspicuously as possible.
A look at the details of the survey reveals abysses: The concern that unfavorable photos will appear on the Internet is just as great as the fear that private finances will be visible online. In third and fourth place are fears of the publication of embarrassing moments and probably no less embarrassing information from dating platforms.
Exciting: With the exception of the financial data, all of this information only ends up on the web because we users have uploaded it.
And before you ask: No, there is practically no effective way to delete yourself from the Internet. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a photo, a comment or a Tinder match – what has arrived on the internet stays there. Attempts to delete social media profiles have failed in the past, and once their friends (or enemies) have an embarrassing photo on their hard drive, all hope is lost anyway.
There is only one factor that gives a little hope for digital amnesia and amnesty: the Internet is now so full of private data that it is no longer so easy to search for personal information in a targeted manner.
It is not “German Angst” that helps us here, but “German Stupidity”. We demand more data protection on Facebook, complain on Instagram about the increasing superficiality, complain about the Corona app via Telegram and announce on Twitter that we find the census unacceptable. On the other hand, we Germans find secure platforms such as Protonmail, Signal or Mastodon uncool and complicated. Most of the time, by the way, without having dealt with it beforehand.
As I said: Concerns are exactly our thing. Unfortunately, no deletions or solutions.