Personal Data Mining better known as Digital Tattoo

Image Source: VirtualLibrary.info

Are All Tattoos Permanent?

        A few years ago tattoos were said to be permanent but now with new medical technology we know that is not the case as there is laser tattoo removal. If you regret a certain tattoo, you can have it removed with a few laser removal sessions. Did you know that there is a different type of tattoo that is digital and not easily removed and can be accessed around the world wide web? This digital tattoo also known as  personal data mine are all the information we post online. The photos we share, the comments we write, the videos we 'like' all say something about us to other people. Even if we delete them, they may still be out there – saved and shared by others, or even kept by the site or app itself. 

What Do My Digital Tattoos Look Like

     You would think that having a unique name like July Miranda would be easy to search information online and find my digital tattoos but with just my luck there is a famous woman named Miranda July so when I google myself I need to search July Miranda Chicago IL to narrow it down. The first site I searched was Google and I was surprised that the first thing that came up was my NPI profile for case manager. I applied to become a developmental therapist this summer and needed a special NPI number with the state. I had no idea that this information was public and it displayed my address and my cell phone number! The second thing that came out was my LinkedIn profile. This site showed my work experience and education career. Then I looked at TruePeopleSearch and my information was the first one there which showed my age, address, phone number and possible relatives. I went to PeekYou and was shocked to find a picture of myself and a username that was not mine along with social media accounts that are not mine and I would never join in the first place. Lastly I checked MyLife and my information again showed up like my age, address, relatives and phone numbers. 

        My Reaction and Thoughts on Digital Tattoos

        I was surprised and shocked that the first thing that showed up was my NPI and that it contained so much private information. I just applied for this number and had no idea that if someone did a simple google search the first link would give out all my information. The other sites did not surprise me as I have done a self search before to see what would come up if employers and my students and their parents searched me up. I was also a bit surprised that my social media accounts did not come up, I wonder if it's because of the name "July" that could be a month or the famous person that has both my name and last name. I was really frightened when I searched PeekYou as it showed a picture from 10 years ago that I posted on my Facebook page. On this site it also had email addresses that I've never used and it even showed a Twitter handle with my picture that I never created 8 years ago. 

                                                                                    Image Source: Twitter (fake account)

        When I first started teaching I changed my social media names in case a student or one of their parents looked me up and they would not be able to find me. As I have gotten older I decided to change my name back and just privatize everything on it and decided that if someone wanted to look me up, I'm okay with that because I hardly use my social media accounts now. Seeing those pictures from 10 years ago and how easily someone was able to create an account using my pictures proves how digital tattoo is important, just because you erase something from your computer it does NOT mean that it's gone. Anything anybody shares on the internet is out there forever! 

Resources:

Digital Tattoo for Parents 

Checklist for Personal Data Mining

Digital Tattoo & Digital Citizenship