Difference between revisions of "Sadhana Ramaseshadri"
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==<b> Introduction </b> == | ==<b> Introduction </b> == | ||
| − | My name is a central part of my identity. | + | My name is a central part of my identity. In thinking about my identity on the internet, I have always had a pretty clear picture in my head of what I expect to show up. I am fairly certain that I am one of few, if not the only Sadhana Ramaseshadri. The combination of my first and last name is obviously uncommon in the United States, but is actually quite uncommon in India as well. So, if somebody were to do a quick Google search of my name, I would not expect a whole lot of confusion as to who I am. |
==<b> My Google Identity</b> == | ==<b> My Google Identity</b> == | ||
===Search Query: 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri' === | ===Search Query: 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri' === | ||
| − | When I search my name “Sadhana Ramaseshadri,” the first three results that come up are from my portfolio website, or from my LinkedIn. Because I doubt that anybody else shares my name, this is something that I expected. During my freshman and sophomore years of college, I was an illustrator for the Michigan Daily, so the majority of the following results | + | When I do a Google search of my name “Sadhana Ramaseshadri,” the first three results that come up are from my portfolio website, or from my LinkedIn. Because I doubt that anybody else shares my name, this is something that I expected. During my freshman and sophomore years of college, I was an illustrator for the Michigan Daily, so the majority of the following results point to articles that I have done illustrations for in the past. Additionally, I was able to uncover several accounts to random websites that I may have accidentally created. |
| − | After scrolling to the third and fourth page, I found my name credited on a few sites that I was unfamiliar with, such as ''pinclipart.com'' and ''kindpng.com''. Upon clicking on these sites, I found some of my illustrations being posted as .PNG files for free download. This was really surprising to me, because the accounts posting my work belonged to people that I had never heard of. Because | + | After scrolling to the third and fourth page, I found my name credited on a few sites that I was unfamiliar with, such as ''pinclipart.com'' and ''kindpng.com''. Upon clicking on these sites, I found some of my illustrations from The Michigan Daily being posted as .PNG files for free download. This was really surprising to me, because the accounts posting my work belonged to people that I had never heard of. Because neither party in this situation is making any money off of my work, and also because I am receiving full credit for it, I question the intent of the accounts that repost them in this way. |
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As I continued scrolling through the search query of my name, every search result pertained to me, until I reached page 5, where different variations and spellings of parts of my name started to show up, such as “Sadhna” or “Ram Seshadri.” | As I continued scrolling through the search query of my name, every search result pertained to me, until I reached page 5, where different variations and spellings of parts of my name started to show up, such as “Sadhna” or “Ram Seshadri.” | ||
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| + | ===Search Query: 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri Ann Arbor' === | ||
| + | I wanted to check if the number of results would decrease when I increased the specificity of my search query. When I searched 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri Ann Arbor', many of the results were similar to my previous search query, displaying my professional accounts like LinkedIn and ResearchGate. Additionally, my hypothesis was right. This time around, there were only 6 pages of search results, and many showed ''"Missing: ramaseshadri | Must include: ramaseshadri" | ||
| + | ''. | ||
| + | However, in between these results is data from the Michigan Residents database. This includes my public records, address history, voter information, as well as links to similar information about my family members and neighbors. From all the times I Googled my name as a child, I cannot recall my personal information being so publicly displayed. Nor did I find anything when googling my younger brother’s name. Because my brother is not yet of voting age, this leads me to infer that websites such as fastpeoplesearch.com draw their information from the Michigan voter database. | ||
===Search Query: 'Sadhana Ann Arbor' === | ===Search Query: 'Sadhana Ann Arbor' === | ||
| − | Because searching my full name gave such pointed results, I tried to enter in a more ambiguous search. So I searched for “Sadhana Ann Arbor.” | + | Because searching my full name gave such pointed results, I tried to enter in a more ambiguous search. So I searched for “Sadhana Ann Arbor.” Although his brought up a lot more results that I didn’t have relation to. |
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| + | However, when I scroll down a bit more, the results get a bit unnerving. The fourth result is from the Michigan Residents database. This includes my public records, address history, voter information, as well as links to similar information about my family members and neighbors. From all the times I Googled my name as a child, I cannot recall my personal information being so publicly displayed. Nor did I find anything when googling my younger brother’s name. Because my brother is not yet of voting age, this leads me to infer that websites such as fastpeoplesearch.com draw their information from the Michigan voter database. | ||
==<b> My Identity on Social Media</b> == | ==<b> My Identity on Social Media</b> == | ||
Revision as of 18:49, 5 March 2021
Contents
Introduction
My name is a central part of my identity. In thinking about my identity on the internet, I have always had a pretty clear picture in my head of what I expect to show up. I am fairly certain that I am one of few, if not the only Sadhana Ramaseshadri. The combination of my first and last name is obviously uncommon in the United States, but is actually quite uncommon in India as well. So, if somebody were to do a quick Google search of my name, I would not expect a whole lot of confusion as to who I am.
My Google Identity
Search Query: 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri'
When I do a Google search of my name “Sadhana Ramaseshadri,” the first three results that come up are from my portfolio website, or from my LinkedIn. Because I doubt that anybody else shares my name, this is something that I expected. During my freshman and sophomore years of college, I was an illustrator for the Michigan Daily, so the majority of the following results point to articles that I have done illustrations for in the past. Additionally, I was able to uncover several accounts to random websites that I may have accidentally created.
After scrolling to the third and fourth page, I found my name credited on a few sites that I was unfamiliar with, such as pinclipart.com and kindpng.com. Upon clicking on these sites, I found some of my illustrations from The Michigan Daily being posted as .PNG files for free download. This was really surprising to me, because the accounts posting my work belonged to people that I had never heard of. Because neither party in this situation is making any money off of my work, and also because I am receiving full credit for it, I question the intent of the accounts that repost them in this way.
As I continued scrolling through the search query of my name, every search result pertained to me, until I reached page 5, where different variations and spellings of parts of my name started to show up, such as “Sadhna” or “Ram Seshadri.”
Search Query: 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri Ann Arbor'
I wanted to check if the number of results would decrease when I increased the specificity of my search query. When I searched 'Sadhana Ramaseshadri Ann Arbor', many of the results were similar to my previous search query, displaying my professional accounts like LinkedIn and ResearchGate. Additionally, my hypothesis was right. This time around, there were only 6 pages of search results, and many showed "Missing: ramaseshadri | Must include: ramaseshadri" . However, in between these results is data from the Michigan Residents database. This includes my public records, address history, voter information, as well as links to similar information about my family members and neighbors. From all the times I Googled my name as a child, I cannot recall my personal information being so publicly displayed. Nor did I find anything when googling my younger brother’s name. Because my brother is not yet of voting age, this leads me to infer that websites such as fastpeoplesearch.com draw their information from the Michigan voter database.
Search Query: 'Sadhana Ann Arbor'
Because searching my full name gave such pointed results, I tried to enter in a more ambiguous search. So I searched for “Sadhana Ann Arbor.” Although his brought up a lot more results that I didn’t have relation to.
However, when I scroll down a bit more, the results get a bit unnerving. The fourth result is from the Michigan Residents database. This includes my public records, address history, voter information, as well as links to similar information about my family members and neighbors. From all the times I Googled my name as a child, I cannot recall my personal information being so publicly displayed. Nor did I find anything when googling my younger brother’s name. Because my brother is not yet of voting age, this leads me to infer that websites such as fastpeoplesearch.com draw their information from the Michigan voter database.
My Identity on Social Media
When I googled “Sadhana Ramaseshadri Instagram”, I did not expect my account to pop up at all. Ever since I was young, I have been pretty private on social media, taking steps to private all my accounts and remove my last name from my bios. I also kept from using social media until I was in my early teens, and created my first Facebook account at 13 years old. However, my Instagram account, which does not have any mention of my last name, was the first to pop up. After exploring further, I realized that the account I have linked in my bio, has my portfolio site linked in its bio, which displays my full first and last name.
Ethical Implications
Although, growing up, I was always super careful about my data identity, I can still so much of myself through a simple google search of only part of my name + my city. This begs the question, how much of our digital footprint do we actually have any control of? Even though I took significant steps as a child to reduce my digital footprint, some of the information closest to me is so readily available on the Internet. Through the Michigan voter database, tons of other websites have access to this information. When citizens are registering to vote-a civic duty- they might be giving up a lot of their personal privacy. Because of this tradeoff, I wonder if the dissemination of information about voters deter U.S. citizens from voting.
