Mapping Self in Society

"Gathering data about myself felt inconsequential at first as I already use countless technologies that rely on my sharing personal information daily. Once I was able to visualize my movements over that one day, however, I felt like these few numbers—latitude and longitude pairs on a map—revealed so much about me. I felt able to scrutinize my life in a very intimate, personal way."

"When asked to share our location data with the class, I opted out. I live alone off campus. I'm a small female. I don't want people to know where I live and when I'm home. After discussion, I realized this was a ridiculous line of thinking, as I rarely opt out of giving apps on my phone access to my location. It is interesting that I was more concerned about 30 or so of my peers viewing my data but have ignored the many companies that have access to even more information. This exercise has made me rethink who has access to my data."