When I
searched for information about myself on various websites, I found the type of
information that a geodemographic firm would use. On Whitepages, I found that
when I type in my home phone number a map with my house on it shows up, as well
as my parents’ names and their age ranges. When I searched my zip code on
FactFinder, I found out a lot about my town that I did not even know. In
Towaco, New Jersey, there are 5,384 residents, of whom only 36 are African
American. There are also only 281 Hispanics living in my town. In addition, the
median income is $137,941 and only 3.9% of people are below the poverty line. When
I searched myself on Google, I found that my LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts
came up. If someone was not friends with me on Facebook, the information they
would be able to see is that I attend the University of Wisconsin, my age, and
where I have previously worked.
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| A picture of my dog that comes up if you Google "Jennie Russnow" |
I think
that this representation of my existence is not too detailed or personal, but
would be useful to advertisers on the web. You would be able to tell that I
come from an upper middle class neighborhood that is not very diverse, and that
I am privileged enough to be sent away to college. I have downloaded my
Facebook archive before, and that was extremely more invasive and personal than
this.
I was also surprised at the data that was readily available for our neighborhoods. I never thought aspects such as neighborhood salary averages were available to the public. Although that data is somewhat interesting, it is a tad scary that that data is out there for anyone to see.
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