Key Idea: Identity online has three layers: what you declared, what was recorded, and what was inferred. The layer you control has least effect and the layer that decides most cannot be read.
Paper 1
- Part a: define identity, or outline context collapse
- Part b: explain why an inferred identity is hard to correct
- Part c: evaluate a system that verifies who somebody is
Paper 2
- Q2: explain how a source describes a person or group
- Q3: compare sources on profiling or reputation
- Q4: synthesise sources on digital identity
Everywhere else
- Power: whoever verifies identity decides who can act
- Health: body data is identity that cannot be changed
- Politics: inferred groups are what targeting runs on
The three layers, ordered by effect
| Layer | Where it comes from | Can you see it? |
|---|---|---|
| Declared | You wrote it | Yes, and you can change it |
| Recorded | A by-product of using the service | Rarely, and in part |
| Inferred | Estimated from the recorded layer | No |
Control and consequence run in opposite directions. Somebody managing their profile carefully is managing the layer with least effect, which is why “be careful what you post” is advice rather than analysis.
Identity changes; records do not
Three consequences worth memorising
- Context collapse — every audience receives the same message at once, so one presentation must serve all of them.
- Accurate and no longer true of anyone — an old post cannot be corrected as false, which is why remedies turn on relevance.
- Intersectional failure — testing one characteristic at a time passes systems that fail badly at the intersection of two.
Important: The right to be forgotten removes a search result under a person's name. The page stays published — which is a narrower and far more workable remedy than “delete my past”, and saying so shows you know the case rather than the headline.
Exam-style questions
Contrast the way a person and an organization manage their identity online.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Examine the consequences of organizations inferring information about people rather than asking them.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Quick check
The three layers Declared, recorded, inferred. The first is controlled and weakest; the third is invisible and decides most.
What is context collapse? Every audience receives the same message at once, so one presentation has to serve all of them.
Why is an old post not simply false? It was accurate at the time. The problem is relevance, not truth.
Why does separate fairness testing fail? Each test averages over everybody with that characteristic, so a small intersection disappears into the average.
Exam tips
- Ask which layer a question is about. It is almost never the profile.
- The intersectional testing point is technical and correct, which makes it one of the strongest counter-arguments available.
- “Accurate, and no longer true of anyone” unlocks permanence questions.