Can I Google You?
What Is a Digital Tattoo?
Have you ever heard the term “digital footprint?” It is a term that is used to refer to a person’s data presence online. While it is a useful term, footprints tend to be something that can disappear with time. However, a “digital tattoo” is a little more immortalizing. A digital tattoo is a similar concept, only more accurate in name when referring to the longevity of you data online.
Child of the Internet
As someone who has grown up a child of the internet, I have made it a fairly conscious choice to put as little of myself on the internet as possible. As someone who does not like the idea of a stranger, or even people I know, having any information I have not given freely is concerning. I do not personally post any photos of myself across any of my social media accounts and most, if not all of my accounts, do not include any version of my government name in the username or about page. However, I know that just because I try not to put my information out there, that does not mean that others follow my social media rules. I have had friends and family tag me in posts, photos, etc. There is only so much I can do and knowing that there are websites dedicated to compiling as much data about me as possible for free and paid reports deeply concerns me.
Searching My Name using Microsoft Edge
Upon Binging my first and last name in parenthesis 112,000 results came in. I found that within the first page, there was only one result that was accurate to me. Then 8th link had my name and a photo of me being awarded an internship scholarship from my undergraduate university. Which, having already an accurate photo of me on the first page of searching for my name does make me a little nervous. I also found that there is a person out there with my full government name on their Instagram (they are a completely different person with the same name as me). I found my Pinterest page on the 2nd page, which I forgot had my first and last name. On the 3rd page, I found my name being linked to my mother’s name on a site called Spokeo. Then on the 4th page, I found my full profile on Instant Checkmate which included a lot of my personal information. On the 5th page was a website link from Radaris that had my name associated with my father’s name as well as a few other family members linked. I then searched with my first, middle, and last name all together. There are were then only 10 to work from. In these 10 results, not one was linked to me but to someone who shares the same name as me. I then did a search of my first, last, and middle initials in parentheses. This narrowed it to 8 results, with the 2nd and 3rd result being a profile of me that held accurate private information.
In PeopleFinders, I was able to immediately see my name, my age, and the name of one of my parents. Had I paid to go further, I am sure that most if not all of those available green check parks would have shown my accurate personal information.
This website took a pretty long time to gather information about me. I was not able to see what my information was because I would not purchase or make an account for the report, but what I was able to see was my name and current age, and it did add two accurate family members to my name.
After a few searches creating a false sense of ease that I could not immediately see a lot of information without paying, oh goodness did Spokeo say think again. After putting my first and last name in the search I found my name with my middle initial, age, part of my address, part of my phone number including which mobile carrier I use, and the names and ages of my parents. There was also a map with a pin of where I am currently living. I can see all of this without paying too.
Searching My Name Using Google Chrome in Incognito Mode
Upon putting my name in Google, the first result I saw was a picture of me from my undergraduate university for a scholarship I was awarded. There is an image, not of me, that links to an article in which my name is among the signatures for a political march from 2020. Among the other images are Pinterest boards I have made since my full name was linked to my Pinterest. There is a link to a page called Criminal Element, a website dedicated to books in the genre of mysteries and thrillers, in which I have a profile from eight years ago. The profile only displays my name and my username, which was an old email address. There is a link to the Board of Trustees Minutes from a library I used to work at with my name, resignation announcement, and my last day working there. A link to the profile of my parent on UnMask has my name linked to theirs, as well as my full home address and home phone (which is no longer active). This then links to my other parent, their address, date of birth, previous home addresses, home phone number, and previous name. After searching for my name in PDFs I found my name multiple times in an Annual Department Report for my undergraduate university. In this report is the name of a presentation I gave for a Student Symposium, my honors, and student awards. My name is linked to an alumni page for my high school that includes the year I graduated.
When putting my name and city information, I was able to find a profile about me. This profile includes my name with middle initial, age, birth month, and name of the woman who previously owned my house. This one, however, did not have accurate family members listed to who I am related to.
This search had my name, birth month and year, current full address, cell phone number, and landline number (that is no longer active), has five accurate family members linked to me with their birth date.
In this search, I was able to find my name, age, birth date, cell phone number, current address with house information, phone carrier, image of my house on a map, and five family members listed.
Using this website I was able to find two public records searches about me, one had my full name, city, and age and the other had my full name, part of my address, and part of my phone number. Thankfully none of the Facebook pages listed were related to me. There was my Pinterest page listed there. Every other social media profile had no relation to me.
Can I Erase Myself From the Internet Please?
As someone who has been through an 7-hour tattoo session before, the results that came from searching myself have given me more distress than the tattoo session. I found it deeply concerning how easily accessible my home address was. With some websites including an actual map with the house readily labeled for any to see. If I was able to access my address, name, age, and cell phone number with the free report, I cannot even imagine how much more information is available behind the paywall. I will say, that I did give myself a little pat on the back for not finding any photos of myself available as a result of a social media account. The only image of me that I could find was posted from my undergraduate university for a scholarship I was awarded. I was not pleased to find that image, but I do understand why a university would want to promote its scholarship opportunities. I was interested to see how much of my family members’ information was connected to mine. I was able to find my parents and a few members of my extended family. I was surprised that on every website I searched, I did not find one link to my sibling. I even went as far as searching my sibling’s name to see if it would connect mine and nothing came up. I am glad to see that there is a little bit of information of mine that is not as readily available to anyone.
I think that teaching students about their digital tattoos is important. We live in an age of technology and that means if your name is attached to it, someone will find it. It is important to be mindful and intentional about what you put out there. It is important to speak to children about how they are represented online, and I think that this can start at a young age. If parents are posting images of their children online as young as newborns, they can also speak to them (once they are old enough to grasp the idea of what “online” is) about their online data presence in terms a child can understand. It is the responsibility of every authoritative figure to teach about digital tattoos. In this day and age, future generations must have as much information and guidance as possible when it comes to their data online. Children younger and younger have exposure to the digital world and the things that they post on there can follow them throughout their lives. This can be both a positive and a negative thing.
I know that I cannot successfully erase myself from the internet, the technology that exists in science-fiction technology shows unfortunately does not exist in real life. I can put limits on what I post and ask my friends and family to do the same. However, in the end, there will always be information about myself for anyone with a search engine to find. While this does make me uneasy, I also know that this is out of my control. It is the way the world works now, the best I can do is continue to protect my profile as best I can.
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