Digital Safety & Privacy

Overview

We donʻt always think about the ramifications of sharing our stories openly and digitally, but itʻs important to know that information and data you share online may be more open than you think. For instance, take a moment and search for your name in Google. What did you find?

There’s a good probability that your search results contained identifiable information about you. In addition to your name, perhaps a vague or very specific location of residence was mentioned (either current or in the past). Or maybe you were linked to your social media accounts, your place of work, or even your family members and those associated with you. Did you go into the images tab to see if you could find yourself, your colleagues, your friends, or family members? This is why it’s important to think about how you are sharing your data online and how it can be traced back to you and the people involved in your work.

Data Brokers

When you googled yourself, did you see any entities with interesting names? Sites such as Spokeo, AnyWho, InstantCheckmate, Intelius, or PeekYou are services called Data Brokers. These sites collect publicly available information and compile it into a searchable directory. This information might contain items such as your date of birth, local or global affiliations, a history of your residences, marriage or divorce records, property records, associated relatives, and the list goes on and on.

This data is pulled from public records, Census data, and so on. They also buy information from commercial sources and collect it all to be made publicly. And yes, this might seem like a morally dubious and ethically bankrupt process but it is entirely legal. BUT you do have some agency in the matter.

Here is what is affectionately known online as the Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List. This article and associated list was developed to help you pull your data off of these data broker sites or otherwise suppress the visibility of your information. This will make it significantly more difficult to trace your personal identifiable information back to you.

Why is this important?

As a podcast host or participant, your name and likeness have the potential to be broadcast to very large audiences, not all of whom may have the best intentions in mind. If you are discussing politically sensitive topics, for instance, or hold challenging conversations with a particularly well-known interviewee, you may face backlash online.

One facet of online backlash could be doxxing – publishing private or otherwise identifiable information about you on the internet with malicious intent – or swatting – the practice of prank calling an emergency service in an attempt to send armed police officers to your home. This doesn’t even include the ease in which anyone could communicate death threats to you or your loved ones. Knowing your personally identifiable information canʻt be easily obtained from a cursory search in a data broker can give you some semblance of security in this environment.

Passwords

You should be aware that some of your identifiable accounts may also be vulnerable to hacking. If someone were able to hack or otherwise guess your password or security question answers to your email, for instance, there is a likelihood that they can also get into other accounts associated with that email.

Here’s a scenario: let’s say my email is podsaregreat@gmail.com. I use this address to register my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. If someone who intends to harm me is able to successfully gain entry into my gmail account, they will essentially have access to reset my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook passwords. The potential harm that could be done with that information is extraordinary.

In an effort to combat hacking attempts, it is encouraged to create strong passwords using password managers (like LastPass or 1Password ) and strategies like the diceware method. This article by the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains both of these concepts in great detail.

Other resources to note:

Again, this information isn’t meant as a scare tactic to posting your work publicly, but we do want you to be aware of the implications and ramifications of sharing your work with online audiences. If you have any questions, please let us know.