there's no such thing as 'off the record' online

there's no such thing as 'off the record' online

 i don't mean this in a figurative way - everything in the online world is recorded, literally. it's how the medium works. a recording is made in the computer's memory of the sounds you make, the images you present to the camera, the words you type, the links you click, etc. (depending on what exactly you're doing online) and a copy of that recording is sent along a path to whatever it's final destination is supposed to be. at some later point that recording and maybe even the copies (though it's impossible to be sure with the copies) are deleted or overwritten, but recording (and thus 'the record') is a fundamental and unavoidable part of online interaction. 'off the record' simply can't exist there.