How to Find Out What People Are Putting on the Internet About Yourself
Internet privacy has quickly become a critical issue with the advent of social networking and the explosive growth of online communities in the past decade. Increasingly, leading experts are of the opinion that there is no privacy in the modern age. Exposure has, in many cases, superseded privacy as a personal value. Background checks are frequently conducted by employers on job candidates, especially in fields that are secure or involve placing the applicant in a position of trust. Such checks offer a means for employers to evaluate a job candidate's character and qualifications. Today, anyone applying for a job or a loan may have to allow an investigation of their online presence. It makes sense to learn what information such an investigation may yield.
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Instructions
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Go to Zabasearch.com. Zabasearch is a specialized, free-to-use people search and public information search engine that will connect you with paid investigative sites, such as Intelius.com. Enter your name in the search box. Select the state you live in from the drop-down menu. Click on the "Submit Zabasearch" button. Even if several people share your name, you should be able to find your listing by checking for your birth date. When you find your listing, click on the "View Details" button. You will see an option to purchase a complete report, including criminal background checks, income information, court records research and other details.
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Create a secondary Facebook profile using an assumed name. This step can be skipped if you do not use Facebook at all. All you need in order to do this is an e-mail address, which is available at no cost from sites like Yahoo! or Hotmail. Alternately, ask a friend to let you browse Facebook while logged into their profile. While logged onto your friend's account, search for your profile page and review it. This will give you a good idea of what information the general public has access to while searching for you on Facebook. In particular, take note of what pictures appear "tagged" with your name. Check that your own pictures are private and take note of what information is being made available to the general public. Ensure that only friends have privileges to post to your wall. You can alter people's access to this information by adjusting your Facebook account's privacy settings.
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Go to Webcrawler.com. This site aggregates results from other search engines, such as Google and Bing. Type your full name in quotes; for example, search for "Bob Jeff Smith". Now add other search terms that might be used to identify you, such as the name of a spouse or parent or the name of an employer. This will give you a decent overview of what information the general public is likely to discover while performing a standard search.
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Download and install a spyware removal program such as Ad Aware or Malwarebytes. Let the program run and perform a thorough scan of your computer's drives. Spybots that may be infesting your computer can read every keystroke you type and send a copy of that information to an external party. A program such as Ad Aware can let you know if you have such a vulnerability and help you immediately end the threat.
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Go to a website that will allow you to check out your credit report, such as annualcreditreport.com. This site provides reporting from the "big three" credit reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. You will be prompted to enter some personal information, which will be kept private. Follow the instructions to access your report.
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References
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