My Faded Digital Tattoo

I am introverted and private. I realize that it doesn't take much to find out about me, or anyone, on the internet. Even with no social media presence beyond a private Instagram account for my dog and a LinkedIn page, I was not surprised to discover the information that is available about me. However, I approached and conducted this assignment with a certain degree of unease. Does my digital tattoo tell you who I am? Can you know me based on what is out there, and should you try? I am still thinking about the answer.

First, the good: wonderful things can come from searching for someone's digital tattoo. My dad for decades was unable to connect with the family he left behind when he immigrated from China. But through an internet search, probably done by one of her grandchildren, my aunt, his last remaining sibling, was able to track down my dad and I was able to take him to Hong Kong for an emotional reunion:

Image Source: author's

With this in mind, I did a dig to uncover my own digital tattoo. I tried out two browsers (Chrome and Safari) and more than seven websites including Nuwber, Google, Radaris, YouTube, Spokeo, My Life, and ClustrMaps. Here is the type of information I found from a selection of them:

Google

A quick google search on both browsers yielded pretty much the same results:

Google search result

Basically, the top result is my LinkedIn page which identifies me as a volunteer at the school library. In addition, the search leads to a webpage I created for a Dominican class that I probably will take down since it is no longer relevant, and also, when you search images, one photo:

Bottom Right: me & family
Google images

This image is the only one of me I found on Google. It's one my husband put out there as he sits on the board of Lurie Children's Hospital.

Nuwber

I found quite a bit more information on Nuwber including: age, middle initial, home phone (obsolete), current address, husband's name and some information, name of one child, listings of 26+ relatives. What's interesting is that there are a number of errors in this website and the thumbnail version of my information is inaccurate (marital status/phone number/age). It's possible that a more extensive report would yield more, and more accurate, information but I didn't want to give any more information to the site, nor pay, in order to view it.

Image Source: Nuwber

YouTube

This was a surprise to me and not a bad one. I realize I created some videos which I posted on YouTube for some of my Dominican classes in library science, including examples of a story time for my class on early literacy. I had completely forgotten these were on YouTube. I don't mind that they are there and searchable.

Image Source: YouTube

ClustrMaps

If you know my name, you can easily find my address, and even more easily find out where I live and how to get there. ClustrMaps allows a searcher to find out more about the demographics of my neighborhood, the cost of the home, the details of my home, etc:

Image Source: ClustrMaps

Not surprising. I know it's pretty easy to find this information from a variety of sources. 

Thoughts

I looked at several other sites and was able to find more information on previous addresses, previous names, and neighbors. But what I found on MyLife, Spokeo, Radaris and others were long wait times when I asked for more detailed reports, hints that these reports would indeed contain salacious information, and then calls to sign up for a paid account should I want to explore further.

I know that deep dives into a person's digital tattoo are common place and indeed necessary in instances both professional (looking into the history of a job candidate) and personal (searching for red flags in a potential date). I also realize, from this assignment, that my digital tattoo is pretty light and faded. A deeper search can yield papers, presentations, and other professional content, but since I was active several years ago before I took time away to be at home with my kids, these will not be front and center of any search. I appreciate the need to increase my professional online presence. I appreciate the usefulness of having an online presence, and searching for others' digital tattoos. At the same time, I really do value privacy and remain vaguely uncomfortable about being so easily searchable. I think this unease may be helpful when teaching media literacy to young people in a school library setting and advising them that their online activities will be hard to erase.