# Privacy

## My Privacy Footprint

### Identity

**Google Search:** The first results that come up are my LinkedIn profile and my Her Campus at Northeastern author profile. I'm not surprised at how easy it is to find me on the Web because virtually no one has the same name as me.

**Spokeo:** Googling my name returned no results, but inputting my phone number and email address did.

### Google

I reviewed my Google privacy and decided to change all of my search history settings to automatically delete after three months. I also turned off ad personalization. I used to have it on because I figured ads would be less annoying if they were relevant to me, but after thinking it over I realized that I don't look at ads either way.

### Social Networks

Currently, the only social media networks I have a personal profile on are Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I used to have a Snapchat, but I deleted it after I decided it was a virtually useless. I almost never use Facebook, and only made one because it seemed necessary for college and work. I used to be very active on Instagram, but now it's been over a year since I've posted on my feed (mostly due to coronavirus). My Instagram profile is private, and I do not use my full name in either my username or display name. The two apps I am the most active on are Twitter and TikTok, but I do not post my own content on these sites, I only use them to follow other people. I have always been pretty careful about keeping my personal information private when it comes to social media.

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## Data and Privacy

"Just Google it." This simple phrase represents what it's like to grow up in the age of the Internet and online databases. In today's world, search engines have become an indispensable tool for most people. But like most good things, there is a downside: the proliferation of online data leads to serious privacy concerns, as Kernighan discusses in Chapter 11 of his book *D is for Digital*. One of the topics he brings up is tracking. Although tracking is usually done to personalize ads for consumers, it can also lead to more sinister consequences such as discrimination, financial loss, identity theft, and government surveillance. Although tracking can be reduced by disabling third party cookies, installing an ad blocker and/or VPN, or browing on incognito mode, it is virtually impossible to leave zero traces on the Internet. Privacy is taken more seriously in Europe, but in the US, basically anyone and collect and distribute information about you without notice.

However, there are many people who voluntarily share personal information on social networks. Whether it's to connect with others or to build a personal brand, people will often post their full names, birthdays, where they go to school, and even hometown information on a public profile for anyone to see. Both explicit information (e.g., full name) and implicit information (e.g., "likes" and "retweets") can be used to predict characteristics about a person. Most social networks are known to collect information about their users and sell it to advertisers. Although the urban legend of Facebook listening to your conversations has been disproved, the app does have access to scores of other data points that enable it to predict your current interests. To prevent personal information from being shared, bought, and sold without consent, everyone should be more wary of what they are posting on social media.