The question whether anyone has the right to investigate another person’s life goes to the heart of the whole privacy issue. In the twenty first century does privacy, even, really exist anymore? Since the advent of the digital age, nearly everything is recorded somewhere. Tracking people’s dark pasts and pondering whether it is ethical or, conversely, invasive, has become, in some ways, an almost obsolete question. I suppose we have to determine what we mean by a ‘dark past’. Is it criminal or just socially distasteful? That, I think, is an important qualification when determining the validity of the investigation.

Where is the seeker of the information coming from? What is the justification of their concern? Is it a woman or a man in search of information about someone they are going to marry, or form an intimate relationship with, and does this situation confer validity upon their investigation? If you are going to get into bed with someone without your pants on, you may want to know who this person really is. Intimacy often assumes intimate knowledge of a person’s background, when in actual fact, lust is more often blind when hot.

Tracking People’s Dark Pasts: Ethical or Invasive?

If your intended had been working as an escort in Adelaide and was familiar with a veritable roster of sexual partners, would you want to know about that? Especially if you were about to marry that person in the same city. Would you be concerned about future compromising and embarrassing situations? Could it adversely affect your career or social position within that community? Ignorance is not always bliss!

How about the employer who is about to hire a new staff member at the playgroup for toddlers and infants? Is he or she entitled to know about the dark past of the candidate, as minister for religion with paedophiliac tendencies? A no-brainer you say; and that is why we have police checks in these industries. But are the police checks always thorough and can they be compromised through corruption? This is why website such as this exist, to provide an even greater level of scrutiny in the search for information, which some want hidden.

Tracking People’s Dark Pasts: Ethical or Invasive?

What about the secondary school who investigates the sexual preferences of their teachers before they hire them? Are they entitled to peer into the private activities beneath the bedclothes of their would-be teachers? Is homosexuality a crime? Is Polyamatory a crime? Should the intimate behaviour of high school teachers be relevant to their careers? Something to think about when tracking people’s dark pasts: ethical or invasive?