What kind of data exists about us on the web? How much of it is published by others? How much is published by ourselves? Are we giving too much away? Who's accountable for it all?
Heather Rasley invites anonymous users to submit information that they discover about her online, with the goal of answering these questions and coming to a better understanding of how privacy and identity work on the Net.
By gathering this information and requesting user comments and categorizations, Heather is able to have a personal overview of her online identity. From this perspective, she can more easily take action against inaccurate or harmful information if necessary. Perhaps more importantly, she can also become aware of the ways in which she needs to curtail her own personal data publishing.
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On April 26, 2008, Heather presented her findings on a panel at the Sousveillance Culture Conference at The Change You Want to See, a gallery/coworking space in Brooklyn. For more details, check out the full release on Rhizome.
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This project combines work for two classes at the Interactive Telecommunications Program, a graduate program within Tisch School of the Arts at NYU:
Dynamic Web Development with Chris Sung
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Marisa Olson's Sousveillance Culture course.
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Heather would love to hear your thoughts on this project! E-mail her if you have any questions or suggestions. Plans for creating a community-based tool based on this concept are underway. E-mail her if you would like to learn more about that project or join the team.