TraceNoizer Concept

Did you know what your databody looks like? It can be constructed out of the sum of all datatraces which are connected to your name in the internet. This fluctuating amount is continuously being processed and archived by the structures of the internet, mainly by search engines and by the surfers who copy-and-paste information. That these datatraces circulate uncontrollably in the net is spooky enough. What is really concerning is the fact, how little we are aware of this.

This is where TraceNoizer comes in. TraceNoizer is a tool, a work instrument with ist own website: http://www.tracenoizer.net. TraceNoizer extracts a multitude of dataclones out of the databody which it feeds back into the net.

How does that work exactly? On tracenoizer’s homepage which is designed in the style of a low-tech software application one finds next to the Motto "Disinformation on Demand" an invitation to clone one’s databody. One enters an arbitrary username and password as well as an email address plus one’s real name. Upon submission of the form there appears a link to a page on http://www.geocities (or another server offering free webspace) which leads to an authentic looking homepage with one’s name on it.

The Homepage contains pictures and text: on the bottom half of the page one can find several keywords, they are links which hide more pages beneath them. On these pages texts and pictures from the internet are displayed which are connected to the keyword and the one’s name. They were built into this authentic looking homepage by TraceNoizer.

TraceNoizer will then periodically generate more homepages on one’s name, they bear similarities but still can be distinguished from each other. Upon entering Username and password each user can overview and (verwalten) the links to his own pages, as well as statistics connected to those pages.

The pages are uploaded mostly on Geocities which is a free service provided by the Yahoo search engine; everyone can create their own homepage on geocities for free.

Yahoo openly admits that this is a convenient way for them to gather personal information. This information is then being displayed in the result of queries entered into the Yahoo search engine. TraceNoizer uses mostly this automated homepage-system to feed the databodies back into the net..

This is completely legal but could cause some confusion. This is exactly what it is all about: The more "wild" information in the form of seemingly personal "data clones" is circulating in the net the less visible is a true identity. One protects one’s own identity in the internet by generating many fictional identities. In the face of the surveillance possibilities the internet offers this is the best camouflage.

The Project is showing what an enlightening and therefore political function interventions operating in the net itself have for the (dis-)information society. Behind TraceNoizer lies the conviction that the internet can only be criticized effectively by the parasitary use of its awfully easily manipulatable structures. It is the job of TraceNoizer to permit a look behind the scenes of seemingly beautiful user-interfaces and make visible the mysterious dataflows, which have a deep inpact on our lives .