Alexandra Sterchele

I’ve always considered myself as someone you don’t fully know until you dive under the surface. Sure, you may see my social media accounts or sit next to me in class and get to know my general interests or likes, but all of this is at face value. I often compare myself to an iceberg, you make assumptions based on what you can visually see and infer about me, but under the surface is the part of my identity I protect and shapes who I am and what I’ve become. Only my close friends and family know of the experiences and events that have impacted who I am today - a rather difficult circle to puncture. I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve and I certainly do not share personal information with those who haven’t gained my trust.

When I was tasked with searching my identity on the internet, I was reluctant at first and it made me nervous. I was scared of what I would find about myself and not being able to do anything about it. According to howmanyofme.com, I am the only Alexandra Sterchele in the United States, so the results of my search would be pointed directly back at myself, not another Alexandra Sterchele living in Washington, for example. My privacy is extremely important to me and I make it a point to not overshare on my social media accounts or online. As I underwent these searches I was pleasantly surprised to see the internet had not descended below the surface of my iceberg.

How Well Does Google Know Me?

Typing into Google “Alexandra Sterchele” and hitting the search button, about 7 relevant pages to my search appeared. Most links were newspaper articles and accolades I received in high school for grades, sports, and my ceramics work. A couple was related to Michigan’s SHEI Magazine since I’m on their editorial board and run the website. The first few options that came up were my LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. When I clicked on the links to my accounts, I made sure I was logged out to get an outside perspective of how my accounts were viewed.

Social Media

Entering my LinkedIn profile, I was surprised to see all of my information as if I was logged onto my account. My activity, experience, education, volunteer experience, courses, organizations, and groups were on full display for anyone to see. I was almost positive I had made my account private, yet my search showed otherwise. I instantly went to my settings page and disabled all the public sections of my account except for my profile and background photo, header, education, and summary. I only found it necessary for those I was connected with to see this content, even though it was general information.

With my Facebook and Instagram accounts, not much information was able to be analyzed considering my accounts on these platforms were private. Both accounts only included my profile pictures along with followers/friends count and a bio if I included one. Only individuals I allowed to follow/friend on these platforms were able to see all the information relayed on my accounts. Before I accept a follower/friend request, I make sure I know who they are or how I may have a connection with them to prevent unnecessary people from seeing my posts.

Privacy Concerns

One of the page results was from LeadAbroad, a study abroad program, that used my picture on their website. I had applied to their intern program in the summer of 2020, yet never formally worked for them. How could they use my picture and name to recruit study abroad students? I reviewed their Information, Collection, Use, and Sharing Privacy Policy which states: “LeadAbroad is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone.” My information and identity were wrongfully being used without my permission and knowledge, and also contradicted the terms in their own Privacy Policy. I swiftly contacted the company and requested by picture and name to be taken down from their website. I questioned how they were able to get around this and the implications of them challenging their own policies. Additionally, I questioned how many other people’s data they were using without their permission.

Images

I switched over to the images side of Google and of about the 25 images, less than half were relevant to myself. The pictures applicable to myself included me playing field hockey along with my two New England championships, Medium articles I’ve written, SHEI Magazine features, and even a picture of my deceased Abuela linked to her obituary. Compared to a Google search under the “All” tab, the “Images” tab gave little insight into who I was or my presence online.