User:Dforystk
Contents
What is a data profile?
In today’s world, everybody who has ever been online in some way, shape, or form has a data profile. A data profile can contain any type of data, such as name, phone numbers, addresses, and relatives, that is all aggregated in one database. Most people are unaware of just how much information is out there. Most, if not all, big companies that conduct business online will contact data broker services and purchase access to this data. Purchasing access to this data will allow the companies access to the databases with all of our information available so that it can be used by these companies. The main way they use this data is mostly for marketing. Using parameters such as current location, and internet browsing history can help curtail marketers into offering products you would most likely be interested in or events near you that you may be interested in going to.
Google Results
While on the search for my data profile, my first step was to do a simple Google search of me. When Google searching my name, surprisingly many results popped up that were not me. I was able to find some information about myself and some online accounts associated with me such as my LinkedIn and my YouTube account, but I was also able to find online profiles for other people who share the same name as me. When I switched the search to Google Images, my profile picture for was the firstWhen I included my middle name in the search, even less results were found. Some websites such as WhitePages came up in the results with some information about me, but was behind a paywall. I was surprised and just how little information came from the Google results considering I have been using the internet since I was a little kid in the late 1990s. Most of the data was either incorrect, not up to date, or about someone who shares the same name as me but I do not know them. I like to believe I am aware of and maintain good data security practices but no matter what I do, there will always be some kind of information out there about me simply because I use the internet on a daily basis. While there was information about me I was able to find just by Google searching, it’s not much at all without having to pay for a data broker service in order to extract more information than is available from a Google search.
What does this mean?
I have attempted to keep myself anonymous online as much as I can but with all of the modern conveniences of social media and e-commerce such as Amazon, there is a balancing act of how much information to give out and how convenient you want things to be. I feel I have struck a good balance between keeping certain data private as well as allowing myself to enjoy modern conveniences.
Data broker results
While not having too much luck finding information about me from a Google search, I was able to request and retrieve a data profile from Instant Checkmate. There was much more accurate information on this data profile and really surprised me how much information was available on there and how accurate it was, however some of the data that was available and based around my location was not up to date, as I do not live at home anymore. The InstantCheckmate data report was able to find information about my relatives who also have data profiles, my past work experience, birthdate, and it also found my LinkedIn profile. The data broker report was able to pull information not only about me, but my family as well; it showed my immediate family members' names, birthdates, and addresses, my parents' home phone number, a list of their neighbors who also had data profiles available on InstantCheckmate along with their birthdates, addresses, and phone numbers. The most disturbing part of the data report was it was able to pull from a database a list of sex offenders that live in the same area of my parents. It was able to pull a list of 67 sex offenders that either live in the same city or nearby cities.
What does this mean?
Unlike with the Google search, the information that InstantCheckmate was able to pull was much more accurate. It really puts into perspective just how much information is available to the public with just a quick payment through these data broker services. While some of the information was not up to date, it was still correct at one point.
