Difference between revisions of "John Wisniewski"
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
==Public Information == | ==Public Information == | ||
| − | Not a whole lot of my information is public and this is because I have worked very hard to make sure that my information is private (at least to outside viewers). When you look me up ("John Wisniewski") no results appear | + | Not a whole lot of my information is public and this is because I have worked very hard to make sure that my information is private (at least to outside viewers). When you look me up ("John Wisniewski") no results appear, and this is because there is a prominent politician that shares my name. He looks a bit like Joe Biden and appears to have served in the New Jersey legislature <ref>[[Wikipedia:John Wisniewski]]</ref>. |
In order to actually find information about me, you have to look up my name in addition to other parameters. For instance, if you look up "John Wisniewski Umich" the first result is actually about me! This page is my LinkedIn page, which I will talk about soon. And if you look up my name and my home city you can access my voting records and information, which contain my address. | In order to actually find information about me, you have to look up my name in addition to other parameters. For instance, if you look up "John Wisniewski Umich" the first result is actually about me! This page is my LinkedIn page, which I will talk about soon. And if you look up my name and my home city you can access my voting records and information, which contain my address. | ||
| − | Many public results illustrate my past involvement with sports. For instance, if you look up my name and my highschool you can access articles in the newspaper about my performances in swim meets <ref>http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/March%20CL%20Final.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/2015%20Feb.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/May%20CL%20Final.pdf</ref>. You can also access my 5k splits <ref>https://www.newtontiming.com/results/15/hartland/5krun.html</ref> and my mile time <ref>https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/SchoolRecords.aspx?SchoolID=35809&Grade=8</ref>. [[File:JohnWikiLinkedin.png|thumbnail|A photo of my linkedin]]You | + | Many public results illustrate my past involvement with sports. For instance, if you look up my name and my highschool you can access articles in the newspaper about my performances in swim meets <ref>http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/March%20CL%20Final.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/2015%20Feb.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/May%20CL%20Final.pdf</ref>. You can also access my 5k splits <ref>https://www.newtontiming.com/results/15/hartland/5krun.html</ref> and my mile time <ref>https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/SchoolRecords.aspx?SchoolID=35809&Grade=8</ref>. [[File:JohnWikiLinkedin.png|thumbnail|A photo of my linkedin]]You can't access my best 5k time though, as my coach mistakenly thought my name was "Jon" the entire time I ran cross country. |
===LinkedIn=== | ===LinkedIn=== | ||
| − | As promised, I felt it was important to address the premier online source of information about me: My LinkedIn profile. My profile is pretty standard, showing my education and professional history. Honestly, I'm glad this is one of the first results, mainly because it is in a situation where I control the narrative. I have added all the information and can verify it to make sure that it is correct and portrays me in an accurate manner. | + | As promised, I felt it was important to address the premier online source of information about me: My LinkedIn profile. My profile is pretty standard, showing my education and professional history. Honestly, I'm glad this is one of the first results, mainly because it is in a situation where I control the narrative. I have added all the information and can verify it to make sure that it is correct and portrays me in an accurate manner. [[File:JohnWikiLinkedin2.png||smallpx|thumbnail|left|A photo of my LinkedIn privacy settings]] |
| − | Even though I curate the information, I don't fully control how my data is used. When I created my account I didn't look into the privacy settings. Now, when researching this project I have noticed lots of areas where LinkedIn was using my data in ways I didn't want. For some reason when I made my account, I assumed I could trust LinkedIn with my data. I have since revised these settings, as I often do on any platform, in an attempt to limit the amount of data that is collected. | + | Even though I curate the information, I don't fully control how my data is used. When I created my account I didn't look into the privacy settings. Now, when researching this project I have noticed lots of areas where LinkedIn was using my data in ways I didn't want. For some reason when I made my account, I assumed I could trust LinkedIn with my data. I have since revised these settings, as I often do on any platform, in an attempt to limit the amount of data on me that is collected. |
===Is my Public Identity Accurate?=== | ===Is my Public Identity Accurate?=== | ||
Revision as of 18:50, 18 February 2021
You probably already know what you're getting into if you clicked on this page, but I figured I better introduce myself just in case. Soon enough, you'll know enough about me that I'd consider you a friend. So hello, my name is John Wisniewski. But I know you probably want to get right into my essay, so buckle up and enjoy the story of my online identity. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I live under the illusion of data privacy.
Contents
Public Information
Not a whole lot of my information is public and this is because I have worked very hard to make sure that my information is private (at least to outside viewers). When you look me up ("John Wisniewski") no results appear, and this is because there is a prominent politician that shares my name. He looks a bit like Joe Biden and appears to have served in the New Jersey legislature [1].
In order to actually find information about me, you have to look up my name in addition to other parameters. For instance, if you look up "John Wisniewski Umich" the first result is actually about me! This page is my LinkedIn page, which I will talk about soon. And if you look up my name and my home city you can access my voting records and information, which contain my address.
Many public results illustrate my past involvement with sports. For instance, if you look up my name and my highschool you can access articles in the newspaper about my performances in swim meets [2][3][4]. You can also access my 5k splits [5] and my mile time [6]. You can't access my best 5k time though, as my coach mistakenly thought my name was "Jon" the entire time I ran cross country.
Even though I curate the information, I don't fully control how my data is used. When I created my account I didn't look into the privacy settings. Now, when researching this project I have noticed lots of areas where LinkedIn was using my data in ways I didn't want. For some reason when I made my account, I assumed I could trust LinkedIn with my data. I have since revised these settings, as I often do on any platform, in an attempt to limit the amount of data on me that is collected.
Is my Public Identity Accurate?
Despite the rather surprising amount of correct information online about me, I like to believe that the answer to this question is no. Both my first name and last name are very popular (my mom says our last name is like the polish version of "smith"), so much of the data that appears doesn't pertain to me. Even when you use more detailed parameters, results come up that don't pertain to me. This is a trend I saw a lot, and if you didn't know anything about me, you would have a very hard time looking me up. I often wonder how other people interpret the information they find when they search for me. Do they realize the information is from someone else? Do they think the other Wisniewskis that come up are related to me? I will never know.
Beyond simply the lack of online information, not a lot of what is presented portrays me in an accurate manner. No one reading the 2014 edition of the school paper I linked earlier will be surprised by this. Much of the data is old and reflects who I was in the past. I was a very different person back then: I no longer swim or run competitively and I'm definitely not 14. My beliefs and interests have changed. Despite this, as much as I hate to admit it, my past is an important part of my identity today, and my online identity gives slight inclinations as to my current identity.
Perhaps the most telling part of my online identity is my public LinkedIn profile. I really wish that I could make this profile private. Every day I think about the trade-offs involved: keep my profile public and potentially receive a job, or protect my information from other people online. Personally, I feel there is a lot of pressure from society to be continually looking for a job. Even though I have an internship lined up for the summer, I always wonder if I could be offered something better.
The rest of my outdated information doesn't really bother me though. What really scares me about my online identity is that my address is so readily accessible, and it is tied to a public institution that I have a legal right to engage in. I'm not at high risk here: if someone finds my address it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen. However, I'm very worried about people who need to protect this information (domestic abuse victims immediately come to mind). Despite being public information, I feel this information can pose a (not insignificant) threat to our electoral system. If you knew that your address would be displayed online after you voted, and you feared your abuser would act on this information, would you vote? How many people do you think can't vote or express their democratic voice out of fear for their safety?
Private Information
Beyond my LinkedIn account, I don't really appear much online. However, this isn't to say that I'm not online. I have public accounts on Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Twitter: however, it is much harder to find these accounts. I'm also active on Discord, Slack, YouTube, and GroupMe, but it is much harder to search for individual users on these platforms.
I have attempted to look up these profiles in the respective apps, and it was hard to find them. Most of my profiles are anonymous or not associated directly with me. My "professional" Instagram and other social media profiles don't even show up when you search my name. This was interesting because I figured even if my account was private, people would still be able to see it: however, this is most likely not the case unless you know my exact username. I can only assume this is because I don't have a lot of followers, and I imagine if you were somewhat associated with me It might be more likely to show up.
Privacy Policy
Despite all this, I'm more than positive my data is still being collected. I have investigated Instagram's privacy policy, and know they are collecting data on me. This contains (and is probably not limited to) how I use the platform and also data based on my device and location [7]. Instagram appears to collect a lot more information for services I have never heard of and won't ever use (which seems like a front to collect more data). It also appears my data is used to provide "insights for social good," which you can't turn off [8]. Even LinkedIn appears to have a much better privacy policy. When they generate insights, you aren't identified, which is definitely an improvement over Instagram.
However, LinkedIn isn't perfect either. LinkedIn's privacy policy is very hard to understand, and this is because they have included short summaries of the information in the policy. However, this adds excess clutter and I don't trust their summaries. I did notice they collect data from sites you were on before LinkedIn and also where you went after, which was frightening [9]. Also, when I attempted to access my data settings on my phone, I got an error no matter how many times I tried. This is alarming, as most people view LinkedIn from their phone [10]. I don't know if this was intentional, but it made it much harder to see how my data is being used.
While researching this project, I was continually surprised at what information about my life was presented. It appears that many aspects of where I present myself online aren't present, while there is a lot of information that I haven't directly consented to display. Even my private data is still being used in ways I'm not comfortable with. I thought it was interesting how I have taken such efforts to protect my information, only to have my home address readily accessible in Google. However, in attempting to have no digital footprint, my online identity can only be created by other people.
References
- ↑ Wikipedia:John Wisniewski
- ↑ http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/March%20CL%20Final.pdf
- ↑ http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/2015%20Feb.pdf
- ↑ http://www.hartlandschools.us/documents/Community%20Life/May%20CL%20Final.pdf
- ↑ https://www.newtontiming.com/results/15/hartland/5krun.html
- ↑ https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/SchoolRecords.aspx?SchoolID=35809&Grade=8
- ↑ https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
- ↑ https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
- ↑ https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/audience
