Social dossiers

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Study Guide

Social dossiers: Topic Description

Introduction

The rise in popularity of social networking sites has had an extroversive effect on large volumes personal data. Sharing photos, personal commentary, status updates, and other personally interesting information through social mediums like Myspace and Facebook has become a common activity for many internet users. Some users that are not fully aware of the implications may decide to publish personal photos or writings after considering only their intended audience, failing to consider that other parties may view them. To illustrate (hypothetical scenario):

John Q. User is rather fond of his victory in last weekend's beer pong tournament, and so he decides to share photos commemorating the event with his friends using his public Myspace profile. Later, when John is applying for a job, his interviewer asks if he still likes to play beer pong. John is blind-sided by the question, thus losing his nerve and failing the interview.

Is it fair for the interviewer to ask this question? Or to examine his profile photos? Should John have known better than to leave potentially compromising photos of himself in a publicly viewable space?

Data availability

Many websites (especially social media sites) allow users to create personal profiles; a substantial portion of those sites allow their content to be indexed by search-agents, and so any content created while using a site may potentially be located easily through basic search queries. The information that is connected to a particular user varies widely and can include very basic information (name, age, gender, locale, etc.) and/or disturbingly detailed information (e.g. mySpaceUserXX aka "Jane Q. User" is single, bisexual, Hispanic, a Unitarian Universalist, an Aquarius, a self-professed alcoholic, works in Accounting/Finance, graduated from Anytown Community College in 2004, etc.).

Social Media Sites       Types of Information  
 
  • Demographics
  • Photographs
  • Videos
  • User Comments
  • Cultural Interests
  • Religion/Creed
  • Political Views
  • Sexual Orientiation
  • Forum Discussions
  • Work History
  • Education History
  • Favorite Videos
  • Friends' Identities
  • Offline Media Tastes

Some search providers have even begun to specialize their services to scour popular social networking sites. A user may simply enter part of your identity, such as your name or email address, into a query box, and the search engine returns a listing of potential matches. This makes compilation of your publicly available data frighteningly easy.

Public profiles from multiple networks may be linked without using a specialized search engine; a series of generic search queries, network-specific searches (e.g. using Facebook's internal search) and basic deductive reasoning may allow you to easily compile a fairly complete dossier of a person's life. For instance, confirming someone's profile on myspace may reveal their AIM network name, which by coincidence is the same username that they specified for their YouTube account. Their YouTube profile features a video in which they mention that they have a personal blog on Livejournal, etc. This method of aggregating information is fairly straight-forward and easy to accomplish with minimal sleuthing skills.

Aggregation motives

While new reasons to aggregate a person's data continue to emerge, there are several traditional motivations that seem to be popular. Perhaps the primary of these is the use of social networking data by those people in charge of human resources decisions. HR Managers are interested in hiring the best candidate for a job, and given that a simple web search may reveal substantial amounts of information on a job candidate's background, it's not surprising that focused search services like Spokeo have been developed. But should interviewers use these services? Is it really fair to bring a job candidate's peripheral social data into an HR decision? In some cases where the job in question involves high public exposure, such as a corporate spokesperson, detailed background checks are an expected part of the confirmation process; therefore most people would consider it a justified examination. Conversely, if a person's lifestyle outside of work has no effect on their ability to perform their job, then many would consider the use of their personal information in a hiring decision to be unjustified.

Traditional applications:

  • Hiring: Human resources staff and job interviewers' hiring decisions may be influenced by what search-queries reveal. [1] The legality and ethical issues of unofficial google-stalking of potential job candidates is currently under debate. [2]
  • Criminal Prosecution: Prosecutors may use the content you post online to build their case against you; your own social media profile may serve as a character witness against you. [3]
  • Business Contacts: Sales professionals constantly distribute their business cards to prospective clients/customers, so it is foreseeable that a lack of understanding of web privacy by a sales representative (that uses social media sites) could lead to disastrous results for themselves or the company they represent.
  • Insurance Eligibility: "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but according to your blog, the following conditions are pre-existing and will require a rider/exclusion for us to even consider giving you a quote..."
  • Stalkers: If you have a lot of information publicly available through social networking profiles, then you have no real defensive strategy against potential stalkers accessing that information. Granted, dedicated stalkers would find a way to obtain sensitive information (e.g. course schedules, work schedule, friends' identities) without using the internet, but social media only increases opportunity and ease, therefore the likelihood of attracting stalkers.

Links & Resources

Job Hunting

In the Courts

Stalking

Privacy Resources

Social Search Services

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