Data Mine Reveals Personal Information

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Data Mine Search Reveals So Much

Shocking!!!

I can't believe all of the things that are digitally available about me!!!!   I find it absolutely scary that anyone can do a search, just like I did on myself, and use that information in any way they want to. It's no wonder identity theft and fraud are so common today. 

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What I found

I first began my search with who I am now by using my married name. The results first identified other Lori Rodriguez's that were about 10 years older. I discovered I needed to be more specific in my search by including my middle initial. The data found other people associated with me throughout my life. This included my husband, my parents, siblings, my siblings spouses, my aunt and a couple of people from my prior marriage. That was a bit surprising considering that was over 15 years ago. 

Next, I tried searching by using my married name with my middle initial in addition to my current city and state. My husband and I just moved to Lisle, IL a little over a month ago, but Nuwber found no results. I had to change my search to my maiden name and prior city location to gather results. With this change, the data focused on relatives from my prior marriage only. Venturing out through some other sources, I was glad to find my absence on YouTube, Intelius, PeekYou and BeenVerified, for example. Either I am living a sheltered life or these sights haven't caught up with the latest information on where I am or what I'm doing. 

                                                  

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I am actively on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These social media sites are what connect me to friends, family, and resources for my job and hobbies. Because of my privacy settings, others can find me with basic information only. I was surprised to find that Google images didn't carry any photos of me, even from the social media sites that I am a part of. Furthermore, I was bewildered to not find information about my education, places of employment or activities/rewards that I've earned over the years. I wonder how people and their information are determined for selection to be on each site? 

Should This Skill Be Taught?

I don't think this skill is something of value to be taught. I had a prior professor teach me this skill, but it didn't seem to have much value to me. I never used it again until now. I believe that if anyone really wanted to find information about someone, they would. Teaching school aged kids this skill would be difficult because there really wouldn't be any information out there on them unless they won some major events that have been published in the newspaper or other public news media. I would say it is more of any adult resource to be used in search of someone.