[Caligula]

A few of you have mentioned crazy bitches running background checks on you.

It seems there is a way to get delisted from the sites they would use. Could be useful.

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comme...und_check/

[oldnemesis]

Not worth it. All those sites compile the information about you from public sources, so even if you remove it from all of them, it is still there. Just type your first/last name in Google and spend ten minutes there.

[Tuthmosis]

I haven't read through this particular procedure (which seemed solid), but I'd say it's definitely worth taking some time to reduce your Internet footprint. I don't just worry about Google-stalking girls--which can sour a prospect you put good time and effort into--but also miscellaneous snoops and ill-wishers.

I started doing this on my own a few months ago and got rid of 75 percent of the stupid shit about me online. The hardest part was getting old references removed or updated. Now that I have it under control, I can pester anyone who uploads new stuff about me with relative ease.

[Vicious]

The best thing is to never use your real name on the internet.

[Caligula]

@oldnemesis - you're right, the info stays in various databases and remains accessible to determined snoopers. Just look at what private investigators working for News of the World were up to.

@Tuthmosis - Internet footprint is more of an issue. I've got a google alert set up for my name so I can catch anything involving me, though there's some noise since it's not a unique name.

@Vicious - Agreed, but having some presence is almost inevitable.

People can use your email address to run searches across social networks, services like rapleaf.com (who often have ridiculous amounts of data on people) and other sites where you may have a profile. Most of them have a privacy option to disable being searched for by email address.

[oldnemesis]

(08-04-2011 11:17 AM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

I haven't read through this particular procedure (which seemed solid), but I'd say it's definitely worth taking some time to reduce your Internet footprint. I don't just worry about Google-stalking girls--which can sour a prospect you put good time and effort into--but also miscellaneous snoops and ill-wishers.

A few points:

- If you don't worry about those Google-stalking girls, then you should worry even less about those sites. Their services cost money, and if someone isn't curious enough to run Google on you, she'd be even less curious to pay $9.95 for some basic information about you.

- If you clean yourself up the Internet too much, it actually raises suspicion. So when the credit officer, HR or someone doing background check on your license application does a search and cannot find anything, this makes them suspicious as this means (to them) you had something to hide. And at least some of them think that if you managed to spend effort on cleaning it up, then you had something REALLY bad to hide.

[Blackhawk]

The best single thing you can do for privacy in the US is get a PO Box.

I've had clients who create mailing lists. The first thing they do is target people by estimating their annual income. And they estimate that from your street address. (Houses on block the 2200 block of Main Street are on average $400,000, so they'll estimate you annual income as 1/3 of that)

If you use a PO Box, you're off our map. You have no street address. We can't estimate your annual income. All we have is what magazines you're subscribed to.

Subscribe to Forbes and Town & Country, and we think you're a millionaire.

[Screwston]

The only website I've ever used my real name is on Facebook. Never with email accounts or my old myspace page. Should I be worried?

[oldnemesis]

(08-05-2011 12:11 AM)houston Wrote:  

The only website I've ever used my real name is on Facebook. Never with email accounts or my old myspace page. Should I be worried?

Google yourself, and you'll see.
If you have extra time and nothing to do, create a fake Facebook account, and ask your FB friends questions about you using some bogus legend (which looks real). Then kick ass of those who shared the info about you

(08-04-2011 07:23 PM)Blackhawk Wrote:  

The best single thing you can do for privacy in the US is get a PO Box.
I've had clients who create mailing lists. The first thing they do is target people by estimating their annual income. And they estimate that from your street address. (Houses on block the 2200 block of Main Street are on average $400,000, so they'll estimate you annual income as 1/3 of that)

I really doubt this is something most people worry about in this thread. And one of the best ways to get out of those lists I found is to "return to sender" all the junk mail you receive. They have to pay extra for this (return service is not included into bulk shipping), and this is extra hassle for them.

[Katatonic]

(08-04-2011 07:23 PM)Blackhawk Wrote:  

The best single thing you can do for privacy in the US is get a PO Box.

I've had clients who create mailing lists. The first thing they do is target people by estimating their annual income. And they estimate that from your street address. (Houses on block the 2200 block of Main Street are on average $400,000, so they'll estimate you annual income as 1/3 of that)

If you use a PO Box, you're off our map. You have no street address. We can't estimate your annual income. All we have is what magazines you're subscribed to.

Subscribe to Forbes and Town & Country, and we think you're a millionaire.

I subscribed to "Robb Report" for years and got bombarded with offers that only someone who makes $10+ million a year could realistically afford. I never did take any of the "free vacation" offers up though.

[speakeasy]

Luckily my first and last name is so common that anyone searching for me would be overwhelmed. It would be like searching for "John Smith".

[Kickb]

All I have is a ton of post on a popular video game forum from when I was a kid. I don't think that stuff matters all that much.