Dear WAHFAQ,
How can I make sure that my private info isn’t online? Thanks!
You would be amazed at the amount of information that is available online. In just a few simple clicks you can find out so much information about a person including their family, where they live, and even their purchase history on Amazon or eBay. It’s creepy, so I recommend a few steps to make sure your personal information STAYS personal!
- First and foremost: Check all three major search engines: Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Not only the main web results, but also look through their image and video results. (This is where you get to kindly tell your friends to un-tag you in their public pictures on Facebook if you don’t want them to be public.)
- You should get in the habit of searching your name, (and business name) in quotes, (like, “Bethany Mooradian“) every month. If you have a somewhat unique name, you’ll be amazed at where you’ll come up. If your name is something like “Bob Smith,” you’re probably not going to be found. Of course, if you want to be found, it may be best to add a middle name or initial for professional purposes.
- Search your phone number, physical address, and email address every month as well. You may find that you’re listed in a few public directories, or that your phone number was on an old classified ad. It’s very common for websites to steal content from other sites (like Craigslist) so your ad for a dining room set listing your phone number may still be up even though you sold it months ago.
- Search your username! If you’re active in online forums, or have a username for Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Twitter or any other sites, search that username. Many times you’ll find others who use that username on social media sites, other times, you may find posts that you wrote years ago. My username on a lot of forums is “QueenBuzzy” which comes up in search engine results with other people, as well as the vintage Queen Buzzy Bee toy.
- Set up Google Alerts to be notified if your name, or business name, appears on any sites online. Visit: Google Alerts for more information.
- If you’re running a business, you’ll want to monitor Google’s local reviews, Glassdoor for employee reviews, as well as Yelp and any message boards specific to your industry. Be sure to address any customer complaints quickly and professionally. You don’t want to get into an online argument….it’ll just make you look like a jerk.
- You can also do a reverse image search on Google to see if any of your online photos pop up. You can either link to the URL of an image online, or upload a photo, and Google will show you similar photos across the web. Searching for photos online is especially important if you’re on an online dating site. If you use your LinkedIn photo for online dating, keep in mind that with reverse image search your potential suitors can figure out your name and where you work before you even meet!
- If you don’t like what you see, contact the websites to have them change or remove your information. Many online phone books will allow you to opt-out of being listed. However, if you own a home, it may be trickier to remove your name from the physical address since it’s public record. Most sites will have a process for you to contact them for information removal. Consider putting your property in a trust to hide your personal information from public view.
- Be aware of reputation management companies who claim to come in and clean up your online identity. Many times they’re just filling the search engines with fluff about how awesome you are to push other listings farther down on the results page, not actually remove them.
The best way to maintain a professional and positive appearance online is to follow one simple rule: If you wouldn’t post the information on a billboard over a busy freeway, don’t post it online.
Think about all the extra money you could make by being a mystery shopper, starting your own business, or working from home for a legitimate company. Take control of your income and check out our LEARN page for a list of classes, books, and more!
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