What’s Out There About You Online? How to Search, Remove, and Prevent It

The internet is a vast and powerful tool that can provide us with endless possibilities of information, entertainment, communication, and education. But it can also expose us to potential risks of privacy invasion, identity theft, cyberbullying, and online harassment. That’s why it’s important to be aware of what information exists about us online, and how we can control it.

How to Search for Your Online Information
The simplest way to find out what’s out there about you is to do searches for your name, email addresses, and other identifying information. You can start with a search engine such as Google, but you’re likely to get an overwhelming amount of information unconnected to you — or about people who share your name or screen name.

To narrow down your search results, you can use some of these tips:

• Use quotation marks around your name or email address to find exact matches.
• Use a plus sign (+) to add keywords that are relevant to you, such as your location, occupation, hobbies, or interests.
• Use a minus sign (-) to exclude keywords that are not relevant to you, such as common names, celebrities, or unrelated topics.
• Use advanced search options or filters to refine your search by date, language, region, or domain.
• Use different variations of your name or email address, such as nicknames, initials, or aliases.
• Use different search engines or platforms, such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

What Sorts of Data Collection Sites Are There?
Besides the general search engines and social media platforms, there are also specific sites that collect and display personal information about people. These sites are called data brokers or people finders. They gather legally available information from public records, online databases, social media profiles, and other sources. They then build profiles that they make available online for anyone to access.

Some of the information that these sites can reveal about you include your full name and aliases, date of birth and age, current and previous addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, relatives and associates, marital status and family members, education and employment history, income and assets, hobbies and interests, ethnicity and religion, criminal and legal records, online accounts and usernames.

Some examples of these data broker sites are Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, Intelius, and PeopleFinders.

Many of these sites offer the user access to some information for free and provide lots of other information for a fee.

How to Remove or Limit Your Online Information
If you find information about yourself online that you don’t want others to see, you have some options to remove or limit it. However, this can be a time-consuming and challenging process, as different sites have different policies and procedures for handling removal requests.

Here are some steps you can take to protect your online privacy:

• Contact the source of the information directly. If the information comes from a website that you own or control, such as a blog or a social media account, you can delete it yourself. If the information comes from a website that you don’t own or control, such as a news article or a forum post, you can contact the webmaster or the moderator and ask them to remove it. You may need to provide proof of your identity and explain why you want the information removed.
• Contact the data broker site directly. If the information comes from a data broker site that aggregates public records and online data, you can request them to opt-out or delete your profile. You may need to provide proof of your identity and follow their specific instructions. Some sites may charge a fee or require a subscription for this service. You may also need to repeat this process for multiple sites that share the same data.
• Use online tools or services. If contacting the source or the data broker site directly is too difficult or ineffective, you can use online tools or services that can help you remove or limit your online information. Some examples are:
  • DeleteMe: A paid service that removes your personal information from data broker sites and monitors your online presence.
  • OneRep: A paid service that removes your personal information from data broker sites and protects your identity online.
  • BrandYourself: A free service that helps you improve your online reputation by removing negative content and promoting positive content.

How to Prevent Future Exposure of Your Online Information
Besides removing or limiting your existing online information, you should also take preventive measures to avoid future exposure of your personal data. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Be careful what you share online. Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want others to see or know about you. Think twice before you share your personal details, photos, opinions, or activities online. Use privacy settings to control who can see your posts and profiles. Review and update your posts and profiles regularly.
• Be aware of what others share about you online. Don’t let others tag you in photos, videos, or posts that you don’t approve of. Ask them to remove any content that you find inappropriate or harmful. Monitor your online reputation by setting up Google Alerts for your name and email addresses.
• Be selective about what you sign up for online. Don’t give out your personal information to websites, apps, or services that you don’t trust or need. Read the terms and conditions and the privacy policies before you agree to anything. Use a separate email address for online registrations and subscriptions. Unsubscribe from unwanted emails and newsletters.
• Be smart about your passwords and security. Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts. Use strong and unique passwords that are hard to guess or crack. Change your passwords regularly. Use two-factor authentication or password managers for extra security. Don’t click on suspicious links or attachments in emails or messages. Don’t use public or unsecured Wi-Fi networks for sensitive transactions.