On Shadows and Ghosts: Constructing Life out of Digital Records

Widespread as they are, the attitudes of trivilization (negation) and euphoria (and hype) tend to overlook subtle and often surreptitious shifts in our modes of framing, perceiving and acting upon reality that the new technologies of information and communication and the internet are beginning to bring about. The inspection of these massive records of data is able to construct a new perception of what is available (states, persons, services), influences the understanding of reality and circumscribes opportunities and possible courses of action.