Around 2003, DARPA’s Information Processing Techniques Office was pondering a zany project called LifeLog, a program that would enlist subscribers to squeal on their fellow Americans. Brian Young reports that according to its bid solicitation pamphlet, it was to be “an ontology-based sub-system that captures, stores and makes accessible the flow of one person’s experience in and interactions with the world in order to support a broad spectrum of associates/assistants and other system capabilities.”

The obvious objective was to trace every part of one’s life on the planet. After criticism from civil libertarians, the program was canceled on Feb. 4, 2004. Or was it? Says Young, “That was the exact date that Facebook went on line. I affectionately call it Fedbook. Did DARPA’s program get canceled by Congress or did it get renamed?”  Here’s more with Young on HighImpactFlix.