What's on your computer?

Last week the L.A. Times announced that Judge Alex Kozinski of the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recused himself from a high-profile obscenity trial being conducted in Los Angeles. It seems Judge Kozinski was found to have sexually explicit material on his computer that was posted on a publicly accessible personal web site.

Even though the viewing of sexually explicit images is one of the main uses of the Internet, people still are shocked by this discovery. Why? Is it because a judge was viewing such material or that it was accessible to the public? Or was it due to the nature of the trial he was presiding over?

What that tells me is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to have any secrets anymore. That person who was your best friend and confidant may be your enemy next year. And ready to share your deepest secrets.

I am told e-mails survive forever so those stupid text messages, so innocently sent when you are a teenager, may come back to haunt you when you are an adult. When you rent movies, a database keeps track of every movie you have ever rented. It may be for the purpose of assessing your taste and recommending other movies, but it sure feels funny when a computer knows more about my taste in movies than my own mother.

If you write a nasty letter to your opposing party, you have to review it to determine how it will read if that same letter is placed before a judge or your client. In fact, everything you do has the potential of being aired on YouTube (provided it is somewhat interesting to even a few viewers).

This lesson is an important one for those of us who blog or write articles. That means you are creating a body of work that can be searched and analyzed. Your opinions may come back to haunt you in the form of quoted material. So you are warned. From now on, consider every word you write (unless it is handwritten in a journal hidden in your mattress - forget it, not even then) can be discovered.

On the flip side, that means you have at your disposal tremendous resources so that you can research your clients (potential and existing), your opposing counsel, and your judge. The list could go on, really. You can research your future dates, contractors you are considering hiring, doctors, restaurants, hotels . . . and YOU! Not only can people research you but you should research you so you know what is out there. (Sorry, a severe overuse of the word "you.")

While those of us who know Judge Kozinski may believe he can handle (and maybe even enjoy) the heat, it is 15 minutes of fame that I would not wish on my closest friends. For me, I've decided to tell my secrets only to my dog, Casper, who is sworn to secrecy.