Google Yourself!

Everybody has asked the question one time or another: "How much about me is available for people on the internet?"  Obviously some information (like what people post on their profile pages) is private, but private seems to be a relative term.  How private is "private" really?  Well, one way to answer the question is simply to Google yourself.  The amount of search criteria you insert is directly related to the amount of information about yourself that Google (or some other search engine) will return.

Consider the first example: typing in only a name and a hometown.  Personally, three pages of the top five listed revealed information specifically about me.  Two were somewhat impersonal, relaying stats from my high school volleyball career, but the third page was my facebook profile.  Information such as my name, activities, interests, groups, preferred music, books, and TV shows was available for every internet user to see.  More importantly, non-facbook users have access to this information as well.  Fortunately, the pictures and more personal information require both a facebook account and an accepted friend request.

As the second trial consider typing in a name, hometown, and high school (or other defining but not unusual piece of information.)  A greater percentage of the websites returned will be specifically about the one being googled.  

These results lead to the idea behind the digital dossier.  Notice that much of the information available on a specific person was not added by the individual.  Rather, a third party added the information for whatever reason, and the person of whom it regards is most likely unable to delete it.  So take a look for yourself.  See how much information about you is available online.  And remember, you've only just scratched the surface of what's actually there.