Schmidt: Web may force youth to change names

Every young person may one day have to change their names to escape traces of their past stored on social networking sites, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal.

During an extensive interview on the search giant's future, Schmidt predicted that eventually all young people may feel the need to change their names upon attaining adulthood to distance themselves from youthful indiscretions documented on social media sites.

"I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time," he said. "I'm not even talking about the really terrible stuff, terrorism and access to evil things."

In an era where companies scour applicants Facebook pages' and Google footprints to determine their suitability for employment, Schmidt's prediction may not seem that far-fetched.