If you’re trying to disappear, protect yourself against identity theft, or just get a job, your information is all over the internet. And it gives you away at the click of a mouse.
One of the best gifts you can give yourself – regardless of your situation – is to clean up and clear out the information on you that’s available to anyone.
After all, do you really want that burglar in the next state over knowing where you live, what you bought recently, or that you’re going to be out of town this weekend?
Do you really want to help an identity thief get enough information on you so they can live the lifestyle to which they’d like to become accustomed – on your credit and salary?
Do you really want a stalker, collection agency, or skip tracer to track you down and make your life hell even if you don’t have any money?
And do you really want a prospective employer to discover certain information about you – including hobbies – that might make them decide to give that job to someone else because they don’t like what they found online?
I didn’t think so.
And don’t even think these are crazy scenarios
If you think any of the questions I asked above are far-fetched, think again. It happens all the time. And thieves, employers, lawyers, skip tracers, stalkers, and anyone else you can think of, are getting very good at checking online for anything they can find on you. And they’re using it for their advantage. Not yours.
Many companies now do background checks on prospective employees – sometimes even before they offer them a job. Maybe you know you’d pass a background check because you’ve never been in trouble.
But what about the information and pictures you’ve posted on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and all the other social media and whatever sites that proliferate the internet? Have you considered what’s out there that might not make you look like the kind of employee they want?
An identity thief can take that same information and use it to put together a pretty good profile of you that will help them get their hands on enough of your information to help them live a great life at your expense.
Your online information is not private
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has said that research into what you do on your personal time does not violate your privacy – especially if it’s online. Meaning, what you put out there is fair game to anyone who comes along. Whether you want them to have it or know about it – or not.
This is just like the trash you put out on trash day. Once it’s on the curb, it belongs to anyone who wants to get into it. Or the phone calls you make in public. There’s no expectation of privacy. So think twice before you start talking about personal information that someone else can (and probably will) overhear.
I was in a hotel lobby not too long ago and could hear a man 20 feet away giving his credit card information to whoever was on the other end of the line (and whoever else was in the lobby). It was identity thief heaven.
Once you put it out there, it’s no longer yours. It’s theirs. It belongs to anyone who wants it.
What you can do
Name Search
Do a search for your name on all the search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Dogpile – and see what shows up. (Dogpile is a search engine that checks ALL the search engines and gives you a lot more results.)
Social Media
Then check all the social media sites for your information.
Think about what you find. You may not consider it all that bad. But what about an employer? How would they interpret that picture or information? (And don’t think searches are things only prospective employers do. Your current employer might check you out from time to time to make sure they know everything about you, too.)
Is any of it inappropriate? Immature? Does it match the image you’re trying to project?
Does any of it give away where you live? Your birthdate? Where you went to school?
If it gives away too much information – remove it. You don’t want any accurate personal information about you out there. It’s just too easy to use against you.
Also, if there’s anything out there that you don’t like – get it removed.
Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s not. And sometimes it takes time.
Blogs
Do you have a blog? Do you appear in a blog? If so, take a close look at everything on there and remove all the personal information that could be used by someone else. Remove anything that might make you look to an employer.
Picture and Video Sites
Do the same for these sites. It’s amazing how videos can make their way across the planet in no time at all and ruin your life.
You’ve probably heard about the video of the woman on an Asian train. Her dog had an accident on the train and she refused to clean it up. Someone on the train videotaped her (of course) and the story (and her picture) went all over YouTube and everywhere else and ruined her life.
It doesn’t take much.
Privacy Settings
The problem with privacy settings is that the rules are always changing. So something that was private, isn’t the next time you think to check.
Check your privacy settings and make sure none of this information is available. I also recommend putting bogus information on the site – especially birth date information, phone, address, or anything else personal – even though no one else is going to see it.
Use a different month, day and year. So if you were born on August 3, 1983, put down that you were born on February 18, 1985. Pick a date you can remember – maybe a cousin’s birthday. Or someone famous who you admire.
You might not think it’s such a big deal. But should a hacker get into my information on Facebook, they won’t get anything that they can do anything with. None of the information is real. For example, the little I have on Facebook is all all private, so it’s not as if I’m deceiving anyone. Except a thief or someone else with evil intentions. So even a skilled identity thief won’t get very far with what’s there.
Could you say that about your information? Could a hacker get anything that they could then sell to an identity thief? And actually ruin your reputation, credit, and life by pretending to be you?
And before you pooh-pooh it – it happens all the time. And there’s no reason it can’t happen to you.
For example, should a hacker get into my information on Facebook, they won’t get anything that they can do anything with. None of the information is real. So even a skilled identity thief won’t get very far with what’s there.
If you put bogus info there you won’t have to constantly monitor your privacy settings, nor will you have to worry about someone getting that information.
Put up positive information
Don’t just remove the negative or misleading things. If you have a blog, put information there that talks about the good things you’re doing. Things you would want your friends or prospective employer to know about you.
If you talk about an event, post about it afterwards – not before. A burglar can’t break in if they don’t know you’re going to be gone. And a stalker can’t show up if they don’t know where you’re going to be.
Always be thinking
Finally, always be thinking about what you’re putting out there. Always consider what someone else might be able to do with that information.
There are a lot of people out there who will take advantage of the information you put out there.
You have to be very clear about the fact that they do not care about you. They do not care about the people they hurt. The idea that you might be hurt doesn’t even cross their mind. You have what they want and that’s all it’s about.
