# Privacy footprint

Boys never look at me, but large corporations do. Online surveillance has been one of our most discussed topics. Before this class, I was aware that my digital activity was being somehow collected and analyzed for purposes related to advertisement. However, I had —as much as the general population— a superficial understanding about the innerworkings of retargeting practices and data collection. Even now, I find fascinating the fact that there are sophisticated systems gathering information about myself. More than stalkers, they are my “little” fan club, religiously staking me to sell me yoga pants and the latest collection of books by Rick Riordan. I appreciate their efforts, and after years of being an active user of the internet, I cannot help but wonder about the accuracy of the data. What did Google know about me? Did they know that I was broke and that ads were not going to work on me? My sexual orientation? And most importantly, how much of this information was available to the public?

With the task of cyber-stalking myself, I wanted to answer the question of “who is Hillary Diaz Castillo?” I mean, if all these companies are spending so much time tracking me, the least I am expecting is for them to do a decent job. However, and throughout the exercise, I found myself surprised and underwhelmed by the information available to the public. When I googled my name, the [results](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hillary+diaz+castillo%22&bih=876&biw=1600&hl=en&sxsrf=ALiCzsaQ-_FxSna0hksxTcHoMzT2qhFsJQ%3A1669114730093&ei=aqt8Y86iBaSkptQPqIu2yAk&ved=0ahUKEwjO_8300MH7AhUkkokEHaiFDZkQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=%22hillary+diaz+castillo%22&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIKCCMQrgIQsAMQJ0oECEEYAUoECEYYAFAAWABghAxoAXAAeACAAQCIAQCSAQCYAQDIAQHAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp) highlight my social media accounts but only those associated with Facebook. Interestingly, there were a few links to my high school website and YPIE Quarantimes, an independent magazine run by students. On google images, I did not find pictures of myself, instead there was a picture of one painting that I did during the ninth grade. In terms of most sophisticated research, Spokeo was unable to provide me with any information about myself or my mother. Nonetheless, when I searched for my stepfather, I found several of his addresses, phone number and age (**Image 1.2**). In this case I could not help but question the differences between my stepfather and I, that made him more accessible for online stalking.

While my public information was limited, the amount of information that cooperations had on my activity was quite disturbing. As much as any other internet user, I daily rely on services offered by Google. Much more than a search engine, Google functions as my GPS, planner, and photo-album, while being linked to most of my accounts. Therefore, I was not surprised that there was a timeline that highlighted all my travel experiences (**Image 1.1**), a function that I find impractical and highly intrusive, as I never formally agree to this. Additionally, the browser I use is aware of the type of computer I own, as well as my battery level and the social media accounts I am connected to (**Image 1.3**).

### Image 1.1


### Image 1.2


### Image 1.3


The invisible hand of capitalism knows more about me than my own parents. Targeting advertising has become the most visible reason to justify the data collection of internet users. However, from a personal stance, this practice is intrusive with some of that information being too personal. While companies are not actively listening to my private conversations, their intrusion into the lives of users is genuinely an origin of concern. For instance, companies like Facebook can “track you across all your devices, log call and text metadata on Android phones, and even watch you write something you end up deleting” (Haridy 2019). This amount of intrusion seems excessive since its main purpose is to present me with curated ads. As Kernighan (2017) argues, “the more data there is... the more our privacy and security are decreased.” The presence of databases and data mining, practices that combine information from various sources, create a profile that allows third parties to learn things that are none of their business (Kernighan 2017). For example, my travel experience in combination with the searches that I did during my trip, could create a story around the reason behind my trip and what I experienced. This could potentially be dangerous, if I were to be a woman from a state in which abortions rights are limited, engaging on trip to a more liberal state in search for aid. Especially since in the US, “any company or organization can collect and distribute information about you, without notice or even offering you a chance to opt out” (Kernighan 2017). Individuals are increasingly reliable on technology for every aspect of their lives, from social engagement to work, making it more difficult for them to have complete private lives.