About
About datashadow
Who is behind datashadow, what the site is for, and where the line is deliberately drawn.
What this is
datashadow deals with a single question: what does the internet know about you, and what can you do about it? The techniques used to assemble information about people have been documented and freely available for years. What is missing are clear texts that explain those techniques from the perspective of the person being searched for.
That is what is being built here. Long-form guides showing how digital traces come about, how to find them and how to reduce them. No fear-mongering, no sales pressure, and no pretence that some app solves the whole problem.
Where the line is
This site is deliberately defensive. Every article is written to help you check and protect your own information. There will be no guides here for locating, monitoring or harassing other people. That is not a legal precaution, it is the reason the site exists in the first place.
In practice this means we explain which data sources exist and what they can reveal about a person, so that you can judge your own exposure. We do not provide a step-by-step method for reconstructing somebody else's life.
How we work
- Evidence over assertion. Anything verifiable gets a source. Anything that is judgement is labelled as judgement.
- No invented ratings. You will not find star ratings nobody awarded, or seals of approval without a test behind them.
- Lab data is called lab data. Where we measure something ourselves, we state the conditions. A measurement made under controlled conditions is not the same as everyday experience.
- Corrections are visible. When an article is revised, the update date is shown at the top.
How the site is funded
datashadow is intended to support itself over time through advertising and referral commissions. Both are disclosed, and neither affects the assessment. If a free tool is better than a paid one, that is what the article will say.
How the site is built
This site consists entirely of files generated in advance. There is no database, no comment system, no login and no form for you to type into. That is simultaneously the simplest and the safest construction: what does not exist cannot be attacked or leak anything.
Fonts are served from our own server rather than a third-party network. If small tools are added later, they will calculate entirely inside your browser and whatever you enter will not leave your device.
Contact
Corrections, tips and topic suggestions are welcome by email at [email protected]. There is deliberately no contact form.