User:Spavitra
Introduction
The world wide web is a vast universe of information, more information than any one of us can consume in a lifetime. Because of the sheer amount of information that exists on the internet, it is easy to assume that we leave a minimal trace when we make posts, highlight articles, and comment on videos. However, every small action we make online can be traced back to us. As someone who has gotten many lectures about online privacy from their very cautious father, I have always set my social media accounts to private and been careful about what kind of personal information I enter on websites. Contrary to my belief though, there was a good amount of information about me online.
Google Search
When I do a quick search on Google of my name, there are actually not a lot of links leading back to me. My Facebook settings are set to not allow search engines outside of Facebook to link to my account, so my Facebook profile does not show up on Google. In fact, doing a search of only my name “Pavitra Srinivasan” does not bring up any relevant information about me until about the third page in on Google. Even on the third page, there was only one link referring back to me.
However, when I look up my name along with the words “University of Michigan,” a flurry of relevant information about me pops up. The first link shown is my Linkedin, which is not necessarily a detrimental thing. The purpose of Linkedin is to be seen by employers, so I find it helpful that my Linkedin is the first thing that shows up with my name associated with the university.
Along with my Linkedin, there are a few links to Facebook posts made about me from a job I had two summers ago at the university. From this post, people know that I am in the College of Literature, Science, and Arts at the University of Michigan, and also when exactly I worked at this place.
After these, there are only a few more relevant links that relate to me. One was an interview I did with a place I interned last summer, and this interview includes information about what I am studying and where I go to school. Another website includes voter information about me, including my home address as well as the where I lived freshman year of college.
All in all, I thought there would be more information about me online found through Google. Other than my street address, the rest of the information that led back to me I did not find to be a big threat to my privacy.
Databroker Report
In relation to the Databroker Report that was given to me in class, there was some information about me that I was surprised to find on the report, but there was also a lot of information that did not relate to me. I never thought that “Pavitra Srinivasan” would be a common name online, but the report shows the opposite. My name seems to be pretty common and there was a lot of information provided that must relate to other “Pavitra Srinivasan’s.”
What was especially interesting to me was that there was information found about my parents. I am curious to know how I am linked to my parents online, as I have no recollection of any website or posting that have my parents’ names linked with mine.
It was also especially creepy to know that there was information about the duration of when I still lived with my parents. The report was even accurate with the names of my neighbors and their addresses.
Conclusion
In my opinion, my online presence is nowhere near an accurate portrayal of myself. Sure, people can find out that I am a student at the University of Michigan, and that I am originally from Michigan, and a few tidbits about what I did for some summers, but these are not things that I think pose a threat to my privacy.
Because there is not very much information about me online (through a quick search), my online presence does not have a huge change over time. There is barely a trace of me from when I went to high school, and there is little information about my college career.
