Smudged Ink- Digital Tattoos for the Disconnected

 "Teacher, is your first name A____? How Do you spell that?"

That was the recess conversation opener right before one of my first graders started expounding on his mother's process of Google searching me. I had always known this would happen/was happening, but this particular search was directed at my college creative endeavors. I had set the requisite privacy settings and done the cursory search for my own name when starting that job (as I usually do), but it was time to flash through all of the possibilities in a terrible mental montage.

Image Source: Tenor

Internet Information

If we look at the state of technology and education currently, it's not just about using cool new devices and programs to meet learning goals. There is also a significant focus on how to teach students Digital Citizenship or the responsible and safe use of technology. As you can read about in this educational primer, part of this is teaching students about user data and digital security.

While today's digital citizenship lessons are multi-faceted, much of the focus during my own digital citizenship crash course that was growing up alongside the internet was about how much personal information was available online. The advent of digital social media brought about all manner of fears that what teens and young adults casually shared with their peers was now out there in the digital ether and couldn't be taken back. After all, the internet is forever, right? 

Well... as this data from Pew Research show, not exactly.

Regardless, the average user can't guarantee what will be around and with so much information still available, folks leave an impression. This impression has been called a "digital footprint",  but some folks have been advocating for a lingustic shift to the terminology "digital tattoo". You can see Juan Enrique's TedTalk explaining his rationale for this phrasing below.

Video source: YouTube

The term "digital tattoo" is still fairly fresh (as of this early October 2024 post, searching for "digital tattoo" is likely to return results about skin tattoos), but the advice echoes the concerns about previous terms for digital identity. This article from 20/20 Magazine warns professionals and students to take care with what they put online.

Privacy and "Public" Records

Significant attention is often paid to what folks might actively post online (provocative pictures, controversial opinions, out of context jokes) or what they might let slip (posting a photo from a hospital room that accidentally reveals medical information for instance), but simply existing in the world anywhere on record can leave behind digital tattoo marks. 

"Public Records" are information not considered confidential; they can be collected an published by various entities. Many of documents pertain to governmental functions and the ability to access them is an important part of governmental oversight. But the increased digitization of public records makes them more accessible than ever. Check out the facts and concerns that have arisen here  in this overview from non profit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Before falling prey to the “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” and “All our data is already out there.” fallacies or giving in to malaise-based acceptance consider the very existent legal concerns and legislation that is still being developed and debates. This series from the National Association of Attorneys General looks at the stickiness of internet privacy concerns.

A Personalized Deep Dive 

I've done it again. I've Googled myself, wondering what it out there. I don't have a robust online presence, but what I do have is a fairly common name.

Google

Actual Google will be a dozen pages into a "FirstName LastName" search with many other people with my name showing up, but no trace of me. The image search here is also different dimension versions of me: a pageant contestant, a top real estate agent, an actor's in a 1989 tv thriller. "FirstName MiddleName LastName" actually yields no results at all. I was pleased to see that adding the term "Chicago" to my search didn't alter the results; this is usually one of my shortcuts for finding quick information about students' parents. It is only with "FirstName MiddleInitial LastName" that the arrow starts finding viable targets, but this is primarily because it starts bringing up dedicated sites for searching people.

DuckDuckGo

Seeking out a different search engine didn't pull up anything specific about me, but did get to the dedicated background search sites sooner. I split the rest of my searchers between Google Chrome and DuckDuckGo browsers to keep the results varied.

The Business of Finding Folks

You can't go too far into looking someone up before you start being offered all sort of  pay-to-learn sites. TruthFinder.com and InstantCheckmate.com were two of these that I looked at. They make you pass through several shock tactic designed agreements, warning about the "graphic images" and "disturbing truths" you might uncover. This runs counterpoint to their simultaneous messaging that their service can be used for fun and to catch up with old friends! Several visible loading bars also play in between these warnings, making it appear that their system is working hard potentially finding all kinds of records. They are simultaneously trying to find extra information from you, the searcher about the person you are searching for. 

Image Source: Author, screenshot from truthfinder.com

After all this pageantry and having you give them a name and email address and promising you won't misuse the information they give you, these sites will finally bring up the billing aspect.

Image Source: Author, screenshot from truthfinder.com

I did not pay $29.95 to learn about myself, so I don't know the extent of the information these sites actually have. I do know they can connect my name with my general location and age. They connect me to my parents, siblings, my sibling's partners, and my partner's parents (although not my partner themselves).

Social Media

I have Instgram and Facebook accounts linked to my name, but neither profile pops up in a public search. I don't have a X, BlueSky, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or TikTok account. That doesn't mean options don't show up, just that none of them are mine.

Image Source: Author, Screenshot from TikTok
I don't have a dog, but this name doppelganger does.

Spokeo

The first step with Spokeo was finding my actual self. There were 51 possibilities and to find the one who I think is me, I had to put myself in the state where I grew up.

Image Source: Author, screenshot from Spokeo

This profile matched my age, but was listed under one childhood address and my parent's current address. It had a very incorrect email address listed as well as two phone numbers, one of which was correct. They made some correct family associations, but also listed my sister as the entirely wrong age. I did not pay to unblur the profile picture, so I don't know if it was just a stock photo, but it certainly wasn't a shot of me.

White Pages

Playing off of the nostalgic concept of a phonebook is WhitePages.com. Without paying them I was able to confirm that they have my current phone number as well as my childhood landline number. They also have my exact address and some of my previous addresses. The email they list is not mine looking at the domain alone. There are a few correct family connections, but also some unrelated "associates"

Image Source: Author, screenshot from whitepages.com

Radaris

Radaris knew my general location as well as age and birth month. They had a correct phone number and listed my parent's current address as one of mine. There were several correct family connections, including links to my sister-in-law's family. There were "associates" who I did not recognize as well as a realtor I worked with tangentially over a decade ago.

FastPeopleSearch

Fast People Search knew my correct age, birth month, current address, e-mail address, and some previous addresses. It was the first site where I was digitally connected to my fiancé as well as some family members. It almost had my correct phone number, so much so that I initially marked them as having it right before a second look. It also had additional incorrect phone numbers and several associates I did not recognize.

MyLife

MyLife came with the ominous "Reputation Score"; without paying them I can only know I fall somewhere in between 2.31 and 4.32 on a scale of 5.00. This was also the site that had my full birthdate. It acknowledged my current location as a past address and believed I still lived states away... or at my parent's current address. This was also the site that boldly proclaimed I was single, Caucasian, and Christian (Two misses there).

Ending Notes

I was interested in the fact that the internet routinely believed I live at my parent's address. I have had things shipped "to myself" there for holidays and gifts, which is my biggest theory as to what is going on there.

I was also consistently linked to my sister-in-law's family, including people I am only assuming are her family based on name and/or geographic location.

Many, many sites I checked had incorrect information listed. While this was never specifically damning, it is worth noting that these sites have no federal legal obligation to correct false information (see here)...

Personal Branding: Opportunity or Obligation? 

My personal satisfaction about how little readily accessible information there is about me online is tempered by the modern expectation that there should be information available. Professionals in many fields are seen  as suspicious and amateurish if they don't have an official presence. 

Like so many things that started as a "value add", having a carefully curated "personal brand" reflected in your digital presence has instead become an obligation. Dozens of articles are ready to tell you how important this is to finding jobs and building your career. I find this troubling for many reasons, but this blog explores many of my thoughts eloquently. Additionally, I'm currently in a professional situation where I don't even feel secure blogging under my real name, and that is about questions of workplace fallout rather than actual material safety, a more pertinent concern for so many others. I'm not going to try to throw away this entire exercise based on my personal gripes, no matter how well founded I think they are, but I do hope that the next time you search someone online, you think about the wild nature of that process for a second.