We’ve known for years that if you are not the customer, then you are the product. This is alarmingly true with social media platforms and mainstream search engines. The product is YOUR attention that is sold to advertisers. These advertisers are sold certainty that their ads will be effective by these platforms collecting as much data on you as possible to teach the algorithm what you are most likely to respond to.
Google search engine results are different based on each user’s browsing history and data collected on the user, as well as geographical location. Since the launch of the Data Transfer Project in 2018, the major tech companies all share user data across platforms. The AI that power social media and search engines are driven by the data collected from all of us by holding our attention.
So what happens when you’re trying to conduct an online investigation but your searches are biased based on these factors?
As private investigators, our job is to uncover documented, verifiable facts in order to conduct an investigation with no bias. We can’t do this without taking precautionary and mitigating steps to sidestep the onslaught of AI’s trying to hook our attention for advertisers while we work.
Using a VPN to mask your IP address can prevent search engine bias based on your geographical location. Tor or similar programs that allow you to browse anonymously mitigate changes to the search algorithm based on what you click on. It is important to have specific accounts and devices for investigative purposes because unless you have always and only used a VPN or Tor on a given device or to access an account, search engines already know you. Remember, if you have Gmail, Google can see you and now they can share what they see. All of these precautions hide you from the AIs and algorithms that lend bias to your investigation.
You can also sidestep search engines altogether by going straight to government sources and credible publications for your research. Searching government documents, academic journals, and credible news sources brings you right to information sources that you can trust without giving you the run-around or trying to trap you in a rabbit hole.
Have someone else vet your work. Everyone’s searches will yield different results based on their location, their browsing history, data collected on them, and their geographic location. One of the main forces of division that have come out of these biased searches is that people are not being presented with the same facts. Cross-reference what you find with someone else who is also taking precautionary or mitigating research measures and see what comes out. Don’t be afraid to be wrong. A 2018 MIT study found that fake news stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than news stories that are true. No one is immune to error.
Not all PIs take these preventative and mitigating steps and get research tunnel vision. That means they are conducting biased investigations that are often lacking in documentation. This will not hold up to scrutiny.
