I decided to cybersleuth my roommate, Tat. She did also give me permission to post this. At first I googled her first name and last name, Tat Vickaryous. It should be noted that her full name is Tatiana Vickaryous, she just prefers to go by Tat.
With my first search I came across all of her synchronized swimming posts. I went through a couple articles and found a couple awards that she had won throughout her years competing. I also found a small interview she did with the Saskatchewan Games Council.
I also found her moms Pinterest account oddly enough. When I went to the images section on google, I found a couple obituaries which showed that she has one brother, and told me both of her parents names. This also fact checked the Pinterest account for me.
Then I looked up her full name and the city she is from; Tatiana Vickaryous Moose Jaw. I still got the same results I did the last google search which was her synchronized swimming articles.
I dug a little deeper and found her elementary track and field scores as well as her entire address. Which is actually crazy because I did not even have to look that far for it.
I also found her Instagram account but it was private as well as her Facebook account which was also private.
I could not find anything about what she does/where she works. There was no information on relationships or activities she likes to do besides synchronized swimming. Based on what I found I would say she is definitely aware of her presence and what she posts on the web.
It is almost impossible to tell any beliefs she has. Her public online presence is so minimal that there really is nothing to go off of.
I am not really concerned with her digital footprint. Of course we are going into a new age where a digital presence is actually important but there is nothing that I am concerned about. The only thing I would recommend to her is to make an Edusite, or some sort of website, because she is also in education so this would help her in the future.
Hello!
This was such an interesting read! I love that Tat gave you permission and that you were respectful throughout the process — it really highlights how much we can find out about someone even when they don’t share much.
It’s wild that you were able to find things like track and field scores and even a home address with such little effort — it really shows how careful we need to be with our digital footprints, even from a young age. I also found it fascinating how you were able to trace her family members and verify connections just through platforms like Pinterest and obituaries. It’s such a good reminder that even things we don’t post ourselves can add to our digital presence.
Thanks for sharing this — it’s a good reminder of how much we can control online, and how important it is to be intentional about it.
Thanks for sharing your experience Ellie. I also went the digital footprint route but on myself. That is such a great idea to get permission from someone else in order to do a full deep dive and see what you can find. I
It must go to show it all depends on your own online presence as you mentioned you couldn’t find anything about Tat but for me my past job was one of the first things that showed up because we had a instagram and Facebook account that was posted on daily.
Hey Ellie, I found your cybersleuthing blog post really interesting. It’s impressive how much information you were able to find with just a few searches! Your suggestion to create an Edusite is a great one, especially since a professional online presence can be so helpful in our field. Did anything you discovered make you reflect differently on your own digital footprint?