User:Domdell
Who I Think I Am
For someone who’s experienced more than 20 years of life, I have ironically little to characterize myself to others, let alone my keyboard. My name is Dominick Dell’Imperio, and I’m a sophomore at the University of Michigan. I study computer science, which may partly explain why I have an interest in the ethical dilemmas technology has provided us with today. I’ve lived in suburban New York throughout my childhood, with two sisters about my age. This is how I introduced myself at my first class here at the University of Michigan, and nothing has changed.
However, through this class I’ve come to realize I’m not the only person with the ability to control my narrative. With the prevalence of makeshift online background checks, media giants such as Google have created alter-egos of myself in a Hannah Montana sort of way. Originally when I looked myself up after the first lecture of this class, I found some things that, to put it kindly, should be left in the past. Awkward photos, irrelevant tidbits, and even my YouTube history (!) dotted what people with a sudden interest in me saw on the most trafficked site in the world. So, I decided to get a washcloth and dismantle my public persona, piece by piece. Luckily, this process was simple and effective, and by the time I was done, there was little indication of what was once there. Now, I write from my own perspective, however for this assignment I decided to look into the alter-lives of myself in the digital side of things - both on Google and through Instant Checkmate, a prominent data collector.
Who Google Thinks I Am
To see myself from Google’s perspective, we now give the pen over to the Dominick Google has devised. However, we quickly realize that this Dominick can’t write an autobiography, let alone a short statement. After intensely scrubbing Google’s memory of me, all it has to show others is a blank Youtube profile, a private Instagram, my LinkedIn, and a Prezi I made in the fourth grade about the hazards of obesity in the United States. To outsiders looking in, the most prominent semblance of myself is the one I’ve personally curated to look my best on - LinkedIn. So, Google portrays me as Michigan’s very own Gordon Gekko - all work, literally no play, as there’s things to do. No hints as to how I spend my free time, who I’m friends with (my LinkedIn connections are private), and no recollection of my past outside a classroom or office. To others looking in, I’m a blank slate with a backpack. There’s nothing personal about my Google persona, except exactly what I want to share with everyone else. That is all this Dominick has to tell you, and this is all that he wants to share with you, because why share anything but your best?
Who Data Collectors Think I Am
The Dominick of Google is an outstanding example of how to fool everyone, because Instant Checkmate has held my Google footprint in such high regards that, in their eyes, I am the youngest Director in PWC history. To my own surprise, I’ve churned through various property deals in one of the richest towns in the United States - including a hefty mortgage three years before I was even born - and hold numerous accounting licenses even though I’ve only taken Accounting I. I’ve gotten married, settled down, and decided to go back to school at the ripe age of twenty. Despite this amazing pedigree at such a young age, I still made the head-scratching decision to make an email account called “thedelldude186@gmail.com” around the time of my CPA - why I chose to create this oddly-named account in my heyday, I am unsure. But, it doesn’t matter. My resume is so good, one silly blemish would be the last takeaway someone has from rifling through my data broker profile.
In fact, it’s so good it questions the authenticity of the people paying to collect information on who I truly am. Obviously these credentials are not mine, they’re my dad’s who has the same name - I’m just a college sophomore and never owned property in New York before my birth. So then who truly am I? Am I the person I personally think I am, trying to make it through college like everyone else? Or better yet, am I the twenty year old accounting whiz who has it all? If you paid for one of these “reports”, you’d surely get a better impression of me than I expected. But when was the last time someone paid for Instant Checkmate looking for an amazing resume? Obviously they’re paying for dirt, but all they got back was an unintentional embellishment of my own achievements. Needless to say, Instant Checkmate, Google and others looking to find out who I am without getting to know me should heed an important lesson - don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.
Reflecting on My Personas and the Information Landscape
After uncovering and rebuilding my data profile, it's important to look into the broader applications of information hotspots like Google and Instant Checkmate and assess their shortcomings and responsibility in providing accurate information. When I first Googled myself, I was shocked at the breadth of information available to anyone with a simple interest. I did not ask for my data to be displayed, and I felt a sense of deceit when more personalized results came up. This brings up an interesting question - obviously it is Google's responsibility to deliver accurate results on any given topic, but what if the subject thinks the results are too accurate? Google does not allow us to define a sense of boundaries; sure we are allowed to customize our own data profile, but many people are being unwittingly subjected to the wrath of the surprisingly detailed Google search engine. This principle can be further investigated with the employment of Instant Checkmate, where users pay to see a potentially more detailed profile of a person. I am not receiving any monetary gain from the exploitation of my own data, and before cleaning up my data footprint, one could argue that my overall public projection had a negative tint.
To add insult to injury, if the data displayed is flat-out misleading or wrong (i.e. Instant Checkmate), it could be potentially damaging to the person. We've already uncovered that similar names can lead to inappropriate Instant Checkmate results, but with narrowing data by age or state, the results become a little bit more clear. However, Google does not have this luxury, and can completely falsify one's public persona. For instance, when searching for former New York Mets player David Wright on Google, the page is headlined with glimpses of a disgraced reporter making unsolicited comments about the President. What if this reporter was replaced with a sex offender of the same name, or someone else that you would obviously not want to share a Google headline with? Is it up to Google to ensure that people are not being unintentionally defamed, albeit at a low level? I was able to erase my own results that I thought were undesirable, but should other people have the ability to request for Google to remove these potentially damaging misattributions? These are ethical dilemmas that have no clear answer, and as we move forward into the age of digital egotism, becomes all the more important.
