Online Privacy question..

[jsk]

Hi

I know this question is not directly related to saving or finance but can help with protecting identity. So posting my question here. My sincere apologies for posting different topic.

Usually I am careful about the information I enter online. Suddenly I could find my full name and address available. It scars the heck out of me.

I have already contacted the site to the listing. But not sure where else it appears. What would your recommendation be to make sure your personal information is not fully listed online.

Many thanks
JSK

[kork13]

Honestly, there's quite little you can do to keep your information from being listed online. There are dozens, if not hundreds of "people search" companies out there who make a business of collecting customer data from credit card companies, utility companies, school/college records, municipal records, census records, tax filings/registries, legal cases, other assorted public records, and so on. Anyone can purchase it, and there's little that can be done about it. Google yourself (search for "Your Name") -- you'd probably be surprised, if not concerned, with how much information comes up about yourself.

Go totally off the grid and move into a backwoods cabin living off the land with no communication with the outside world.... That might work. .....until the census workers come a-knockin'.

[jpg7n16]

Why are you so concerned about online privacy?
What do you think will happen if someone finds your address online?

Originally Posted by kork13

Go totally off the grid and move into a backwoods cabin living off the land with no communication with the outside world.... That might work. .....until the census workers come a-knockin'.

Except you'd have to buy the land for the cabin, and then title records can be searched. So if you own any property, they can find you.

We gon' find you!

[jsk]

kork13,jpg7n16: LOL !!
i am not trying to disappear from the face of the earth but definitely wouldn't prefer bunch of personal stuff showing-up during google search!!

Let me rephrase my question: I heard ads about identity protection products. Do they help in keeping personal info popping up online ?

[artwest]

Identity theft products do not help keep personal info from showing up online, however, they do help if your identity is ever stolen.

You can get identity theft insurance for $10-12 per month. I highly recommend it. Do some research and find out which company would be best for you. The company I have my policy through will do all of the work if my identity is stolen. I simply report it and then they assign someone to fix it.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by jsk

kork13,jpg7n16: LOL !!
i am not trying to disappear from the face of the earth but definitely wouldn't prefer bunch of personal stuff showing-up during google search!!

Let me rephrase my question: I heard ads about identity protection products. Do they help in keeping personal info popping up online ?

No. They keep your idenity from being stolen, or reduces the chances of it occuring, but they don't keep your name from coming up on online searches. But there are services that you can pay for that protect your reputation online. I'm not sure how well they work though.

[jsk]

thanks artwest, bjl584

[edg126]

I used to work for a company that bought a lot of directories of name,address,email,phone that would collect it from hundreds of different companies where you would register online. Even friends that proclaimed they never gave over information were on it. The good thing at least is the accuracy of the data is about 10-20% (think about all the times you switch a number on your phone number when giving it out) so that stops the industry from using it even moreso than it is.