It alarmed me how much you can find about about a person without really knowing them at all. When I typed in my cell phone number in white pages, I was able to find my city, state, zip code, and current location. If anyone came in contact with me via cell phone, they could potentially come find me in person simply because they have my phone number. They would know that I live in the Milwaukee area in southeastern Wisconsin. When I learned that for a fee one could learn my name, address, and history, I could not help but feel exposed. The worst part is, there's noting I can do about it. (Unless, of course, I got rid of my cell phone..)
Next, I checked to see how much I could find out about Catherine Edquist on Google. One of the most relevant resources I found was my high school's field hockey roster from my junior year. It listed my jersey number, my grade, my specific team (varsity reserve), and my height. However, one could easily look up more information about my school, as its full name, Divine Savior Holy Angels, is not a very common name. Back to the Google search, I didn't find anything that could be of use except my grandfather's obituary. All of my aunts and uncles on his side are listed here along with their current home locations, including that of my family: Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Afterwards I tried searching under Cat Edquist, the name I go by much more frequently, including within all of my online spaces. Immediately, I found links to my Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail accounts/profiles. Thanks to privacy settings, almost all of my accounts denied public access so I couldn't see much about myself besides pictures. However, I did a search on Facebook using the "view as" function with which I can see my profile as someone who is not my Facebook friend.
All in all, I would say that my digital puppet is fairly accurate but, thanks to privacy settings, is not entirely complete and therefore does not really reflect my personality. That being said, I do know a startling amount of objective information. As an outsider, I know that Cat Edquist is a female, as she attended an all-girls high school. I know she lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin- most likely in Cedarburg, the town that I found which is closest to this city- and I know that there is a woman on LinkedIn from the Waco, Texas area who may or may not be related to Cat Edquist. Judging from what I can see on her Facebook page, I can see her music interests and the groups she is in. In doing so, I know that she goes to UW-Madison and lives in Witte Hall. Throughout this entire process, it occurred to me that no amount of privacy settings can block you off completely from the Internet. The only way to stay 100% anonymous is to remove yourself from any and all forms of social media.
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