I was thinking about that development for a long time, now Michi wrote a
very interesting post over in his weblog concerning how much information all that publishing provides, some of that information is provided because you want to, other can be concluded (infered) just by combining the "bigger picture". That is certainly changing, but not only on the web.
If you take a sharp look at how our society is changing the way it looks at privacy is thrilling. Just think about phenomens like Big Brother and other reality shows, look at all those other devices that we use and how they affect our privacy. Today it is rather easy to google people, they don't even have to have a Weblog or something else, you'll most likely find some information about their background.
You can search online in phonebooks, find out their adress, see their neighborhood on the map. As soon as people have a email adress, you'll be able to make a connection to their company, right now around christmas some people are sending christmas wishes with hundreds of email adresses in the "to" header.
I also think that personal publishing is not a cause for that change, but most likely an effect of that change. And it can not be underestimated. The reason why I deleted this weblog half a year ago, was because exactly the archive, that contained all that information was misinterpreted, sliced in small pieces, put together differently and used as something that I didn't want it to be. But I understand (now) that it is tempting to do that. Trying to discover the "truth" by putting together small pieces is exactly what we are trained to do, that is what we do all the time.
But how can we deal with that situation? Can we "turn back time"? I don't think so. We just have to think about privacy and security whenever we design a web application, ensuring a maximum of privacy and security but provide as much benefit as possible.
One more thing: I think we are running even more in that direction. Just think about the possible applications for
RFID, and that technology is definitely coming our way.
By the way: That is one reason why I hate services such as OpenBC or Orkut, because they make explicit what should not necessarily be explicit.
