Difference between revisions of "Ponette Rubio"
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| − | <b>All of my life I've been known as ‘Kavya Pratapa’</b>. I initially[[ | + | <b>All of my life I've been known as ‘Kavya Pratapa’</b>. I initially[[|right|The images I see when I google 'Kavya Pratapa']] adopted this abbreviated version of my birth name to make navigating the social boundaries of school easier, and for the most part, it worked! While there were indeed some awkward moments when my birth name would make its appearance on attendance sheets, being referred to as 'Kavya' took away the stresses of having a name that no one could recognize or pronounce. It made it easier for me to interact with my teachers, friends, and classmates on a personal level. |
In a world where our name forms a large part of our identity, I believed that being known as ‘Kavya’ made my identity, both offline and online, much more clear-cut. In fact, until I started college, I rarely ever wrote my full name on anything unless it was legal business. Therefore, when I embarked on this project to better understand my online identity, I expected to see a lot of information about myself under my abbreviated name. Yet, I quickly realized that much of the information online was not about ‘Kavya Pratapa’, but actually about ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’ <b>(my birth name)</b>. | In a world where our name forms a large part of our identity, I believed that being known as ‘Kavya’ made my identity, both offline and online, much more clear-cut. In fact, until I started college, I rarely ever wrote my full name on anything unless it was legal business. Therefore, when I embarked on this project to better understand my online identity, I expected to see a lot of information about myself under my abbreviated name. Yet, I quickly realized that much of the information online was not about ‘Kavya Pratapa’, but actually about ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’ <b>(my birth name)</b>. | ||
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===Search Query: Regular Search === | ===Search Query: Regular Search === | ||
| − | On the other hand, when I googled[[ | + | On the other hand, when I googled[[|..|right|... ]] my given birth name <b>‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’,</b> I was able to find almost <b>5 pages of content</b> that all had relevance to me! The top two search results were my Linkedin and WayUp profiles, but I also saw many more local newspaper articles about me from my spelling bee days within the first two pages. As I moved through the search results, I even found random blogs and discussion threads about the National Spelling Bee competitions that contained my name, with one user commenting how <em>"with a name like Kavyapranati Pratapa, they can spell anything"</em>. What was most surprising, however, was finding a <b>hashtag on Twitter</b> of the very word that I misspelled in the 2012 National Spelling Bee! |
| − | <br style = "margin-top:5px;">Apart from [[ | + | <br style = "margin-top:5px;">Apart from [[|left|...]]'spelling bee' related results, there were a couple pages that contained my name from other activities, such as my vocal performances, my Medium blog that I don't post on anymore, the university's Honors Convocation last year, and even under another data broker service <b>FastPeopleSearch.com</b>. It was pretty shocking to see how many different sources of information contained my name. There was just too much out there. |
===Holes or Clues?=== | ===Holes or Clues?=== | ||
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===How much of my digital imprint serves the interests of others? === | ===How much of my digital imprint serves the interests of others? === | ||
| − | Likewise, as I looked through my data broker report, nothing seemed out of the ordinary or particularly harmful. The first couple pages were pulled from my Linkedin profile, though I did notice some inaccuracies in what was reported. For example, I wrote on my profile that I would be interning at Deloitte Consulting this summer, but also had my previous summer internship at [[ | + | Likewise, as I looked through my data broker report, nothing seemed out of the ordinary or particularly harmful. The first couple pages were pulled from my Linkedin profile, though I did notice some inaccuracies in what was reported. For example, I wrote on my profile that I would be interning at Deloitte Consulting this summer, but also had my previous summer internship at [[|right||The First Page of my Instant checkmate Report]]Denison Consulting in Ann Arbor listed. When I looked at my report, however, the same company ‘Denison Consulting’ was listed for both my upcoming and my current internships. |
Another discrepancy I noticed was in my education of the same ‘Linkedin section’. Prior to having been accepted to the business minor, I was a part of the Cappo Sales Track program through the Ross School of Business. Even though I have now updated my Linkedin profile to reflect my most current educational pursuits, my data broker profile depicted results from when I was still unsure of what my minor would be. As a result, this data is no longer accurate with what my educational pursuits are today. | Another discrepancy I noticed was in my education of the same ‘Linkedin section’. Prior to having been accepted to the business minor, I was a part of the Cappo Sales Track program through the Ross School of Business. Even though I have now updated my Linkedin profile to reflect my most current educational pursuits, my data broker profile depicted results from when I was still unsure of what my minor would be. As a result, this data is no longer accurate with what my educational pursuits are today. | ||
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==<b>References</b> == | ==<b>References</b> == | ||
| − | + | Google.com | |
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Revision as of 15:27, 19 February 2021
All of my life I've been known as ‘Kavya Pratapa’. I initially[[|right|The images I see when I google 'Kavya Pratapa']] adopted this abbreviated version of my birth name to make navigating the social boundaries of school easier, and for the most part, it worked! While there were indeed some awkward moments when my birth name would make its appearance on attendance sheets, being referred to as 'Kavya' took away the stresses of having a name that no one could recognize or pronounce. It made it easier for me to interact with my teachers, friends, and classmates on a personal level.
In a world where our name forms a large part of our identity, I believed that being known as ‘Kavya’ made my identity, both offline and online, much more clear-cut. In fact, until I started college, I rarely ever wrote my full name on anything unless it was legal business. Therefore, when I embarked on this project to better understand my online identity, I expected to see a lot of information about myself under my abbreviated name. Yet, I quickly realized that much of the information online was not about ‘Kavya Pratapa’, but actually about ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’ (my birth name).
Contents
Is my life an open book?
Search Query: Incognito
When I first googled my abbreviated name ‘Kavya Pratapa’, most of my social media accounts (e.g. Facebook and Instagram) came up. Within the first page of my search results, I found details about some Quiz Bowl competitions from high school, a couple of local newspaper articles about me from when I used to compete in spelling bee competitions, and information about my Youtube account that I no longer use. However, I very quickly noticed that after 5 or 6 pertinent search results, the information that came up was not related to me in any way. In fact, a lot of the other search results were about a Bollywood film in which the lead actress’s name was ‘Kavya Pratap Singh’ (see above image).
Search Query: Regular Search
On the other hand, when I googled[[|..|right|... ]] my given birth name ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’, I was able to find almost 5 pages of content that all had relevance to me! The top two search results were my Linkedin and WayUp profiles, but I also saw many more local newspaper articles about me from my spelling bee days within the first two pages. As I moved through the search results, I even found random blogs and discussion threads about the National Spelling Bee competitions that contained my name, with one user commenting how "with a name like Kavyapranati Pratapa, they can spell anything". What was most surprising, however, was finding a hashtag on Twitter of the very word that I misspelled in the 2012 National Spelling Bee!
Apart from [[|left|...]]'spelling bee' related results, there were a couple pages that contained my name from other activities, such as my vocal performances, my Medium blog that I don't post on anymore, the university's Honors Convocation last year, and even under another data broker service FastPeopleSearch.com. It was pretty shocking to see how many different sources of information contained my name. There was just too much out there.
Holes or Clues?
Although I am aware of the dangers of having my online identity compromised, I have never given much thought to how easily my information online could be accessed. As Luciano Floridi writes “It’s not that we don’t care about privacy, but that we accept that being online may be one of the less private things about our life”. More than anything, I was pretty surprised to see information about me from 8 or 10 years ago so easily accessible. These were aspects about my identity that I didn't know were out there for anyone to view.
While I realized that I had little control over whether I wanted to disclose such information or not, none of what I saw about myself was compromising my carefully-crafted online self. Therefore, I wasn’t incredibly concerned over my lack of informational privacy. It simply wasn't harmful to me.
Who gets to create online Ponette?
How much of my digital imprint serves the interests of others?
Likewise, as I looked through my data broker report, nothing seemed out of the ordinary or particularly harmful. The first couple pages were pulled from my Linkedin profile, though I did notice some inaccuracies in what was reported. For example, I wrote on my profile that I would be interning at Deloitte Consulting this summer, but also had my previous summer internship at [[|right||The First Page of my Instant checkmate Report]]Denison Consulting in Ann Arbor listed. When I looked at my report, however, the same company ‘Denison Consulting’ was listed for both my upcoming and my current internships.
Another discrepancy I noticed was in my education of the same ‘Linkedin section’. Prior to having been accepted to the business minor, I was a part of the Cappo Sales Track program through the Ross School of Business. Even though I have now updated my Linkedin profile to reflect my most current educational pursuits, my data broker profile depicted results from when I was still unsure of what my minor would be. As a result, this data is no longer accurate with what my educational pursuits are today.
Would the online Ponette approve of me?
Something that was interesting to see in my data broker profile were my previous areas of residence. I have done all of my schooling in the Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti area, but I've lived in Troy, Michigan and Dearborn, Michigan in the past. It was pretty intriguing to see the exact addresses of the places I lived in within these cities mentioned in my report. Until I saw this data, I didn't even know where I lived in these cities! At the same time, however, the fact that my residence information is accessible to anyone who utilizes a data broker service like Instant Checkmate was pretty shocking to me and made me realize how information that I always thought was 'private' was not private.
I was also concerned to see the large amount of sex offenders that lived in my area. Growing up, I knew that Ypsilanti wasn’t one of the safest areas to live in, but I never paid that much attention to my surroundings. While learning this information certainly hasn't changed my decision to leave Ypsilanti by any means, I am a little bit more aware of my surroundings and the demographics of the people that live in my general community. Lastly, echoing the phenomenon I observed when I googled myself, I noticed that only my Linkedin profile and email popped up under the social media category of the report. Though I was baffled at first, I eventually realized that neither my Facebook nor my Instagram accounts would be 'dug up' by the data broker since they both feature my abbreviated name ‘Kavya Pratapa’.
References
Google.com
