# Privacy

When I searched myself on the internet, these were the results. The only webpage was my high school soccer team's Max Preps page. There were also no pictures, videos, or news articles that came up related to my name.

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I did not include the screenshots from the True People Search because it revealed information, however, the search findings were very interesting. There was no information on me when I searched my name, zip code, or phone number, but when I searched my parents an excess of correct information came up. For both of them, it listed our address, their birthdays, their phone numbers and emails, the addresses of the other properties they own, and links to people they could be associated with, which listed most of their immediate families. The last part was especially interesting because it included both sides of the family, related by marriage, and showed the same results for both of my parents.

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When I checked what my browser knew about me it was surprisingly less information than anticipated. It was not able to identify my location saying “Sorry! Our Google Geolocation API Quota exceeded. Maybe refresh the page to try again,” and it could not pin a geotag to the test image I used, as seen in the picture above. However, it did know, my operating system, browser, browser plugins, CPU, download speed, and that I am logged in to Spotify and Instagram.

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My Google activity was not very telling because I do not use Google Chrome as my primary browser, so there was not much under search history. I also have my web and app activity, location history, and YouTube history turned off, limiting the amount of data Google has. Also, due to the location tracking settings being off, I do not have a timeline history on Google Maps. Finally, although my age is correct under my profile, Google was not showing my ad personalization results because it said that I was under 18. I attached the pictures above, but am unsure of why it is saying this.

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Finally, in terms of social media, my Instagram and TikTok accounts are public, but I am cognizant of my digital footprint on social media and only post things that I am ok with being seen by the public. Furthermore, Instagram has become a tool for connections or networking that I think you eliminate by being private. For example, it is common for job recruiters to look at your social media accounts to get a feel of who you are, so if my account positively reflects me it could be beneficial.

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According to the article, [“Facebook isn’t secretly listening to your conversations, but the truth is much more disturbing”](https://newatlas.com/computers/facebook-not-secretly-listening-conversations/) by Rich Haridy, it would be impossible for Facebook to actually listen to us, but much simpler to collect our data and use algorithms to target us with personalized ads. The first reading from Understanding the Digital World, “Data and Privacy” by Brian W. Kerninghan explains how our information and data can be represented digitally. Our data is turned into binary code, which is just patterns of zeros and ones, so it can be manipulated, copied, and transmitted across the internet. Once we understand how the mechanics of this process work, then we can understand how tracking and privacy concerns are warranted. As Haridy notes, everything we do on the internet produces data that is collected, analyzed, saved, and sometimes sold. The more data that is available to us, the more strangers can learn about us, and the more our privacy and security online is decreased.

With that being said, the amount of data that I found when I stalked myself and my parents on the internet was not shocking. Most of the available information is unavoidable as there is required information you must share to use the internet and there is information that is being tracked without our knowledge or consent. I do not think my parents would be aware of how much information I was able to uncover with just their names or phone numbers, and they would be concerned by that. However, once again, without the proper education about how the internet works and knowledge about the right settings to turn off or on, the websites we visit and any information we have ever shared in inevitably saved. While it has been proven that Facebook and other sites do not listen to us directly through all of our interactions on the internet, they collect enough information to show us personalized content which is so specific it leads us to believe that they are listening.