This morning, I remarked to my girlfriend that I was surprised no one had developed an online presence reporting agency. You may be thinking, what the hell are you talking about, and that would make a lot of sense because I do not think that title is accurate. I think I can better explain what I am talking about than give a title to it.
Every year, lots of people pay for someone to keep track of their three credit reports, which are known to often be filled with inaccuracies but that can meaningfully ruin your life. For example, I have had to remove incorrect information on my reports at least twice and it was a nightmare. If I didn't get it removed I couldn't do other important things, like get loans approved for college or something, and you had to jump through so many hoops to prove to the agencies that the data they had was wrong. Unfortunately, you usually did not learn that there was a problem with your credit report at all until you were suddenly denied for something. Now we have credit monitoring systems, some of them even marketed by the same credit reporting agencies that so often seem to be getting the information wrong. Doesn't it seem they should have to have this type of system in place (for free) before they are allowed to hold that much power? But, I digress.
Later in the morning, a news report came onto NPR discussing how many people are using MySpace and Facebook to find jobs, in this the 21st Century. However, they noted that a lot of people do not think about what they put out on the Internet before they begin applying for jobs and that most of today's employers now Google all of their applicants to see what it out there in cyberspace about them. Once again, there is this thing where your past could come back to haunt you - even if it is inaccurate or an ex-lover decided to post pictures or video of it after you two broke up, after he promised the images were destroyed. It really seems that someone with a bit of a grudge against you and a little free time could wreak some serious havoc on your life, and you may never know it before it was too late. Given all of this, I am surprised that no one has derived a method for ferreting out such derogatory details on the Net and charging folks a small fee to monitor their information and to help them get it removed.
I suppose, for all I know, someone has already derived a method for doing this. Although, I imagine it could be difficult. What if what you publish now belongs to someone else? How do you force that company to remove it? I am not really sure. In either event, at least three lessons should be taken from this: Google yourself ... often, be really careful about what you put out there because it might be out there for forever - those emails that you write back and forth can be discoverable in court, and can also easily be posted to a Website, later, and if you are crafty enough, there is probably money to be made upon other people's precarious positions.
Every year, lots of people pay for someone to keep track of their three credit reports, which are known to often be filled with inaccuracies but that can meaningfully ruin your life. For example, I have had to remove incorrect information on my reports at least twice and it was a nightmare. If I didn't get it removed I couldn't do other important things, like get loans approved for college or something, and you had to jump through so many hoops to prove to the agencies that the data they had was wrong. Unfortunately, you usually did not learn that there was a problem with your credit report at all until you were suddenly denied for something. Now we have credit monitoring systems, some of them even marketed by the same credit reporting agencies that so often seem to be getting the information wrong. Doesn't it seem they should have to have this type of system in place (for free) before they are allowed to hold that much power? But, I digress.
Later in the morning, a news report came onto NPR discussing how many people are using MySpace and Facebook to find jobs, in this the 21st Century. However, they noted that a lot of people do not think about what they put out on the Internet before they begin applying for jobs and that most of today's employers now Google all of their applicants to see what it out there in cyberspace about them. Once again, there is this thing where your past could come back to haunt you - even if it is inaccurate or an ex-lover decided to post pictures or video of it after you two broke up, after he promised the images were destroyed. It really seems that someone with a bit of a grudge against you and a little free time could wreak some serious havoc on your life, and you may never know it before it was too late. Given all of this, I am surprised that no one has derived a method for ferreting out such derogatory details on the Net and charging folks a small fee to monitor their information and to help them get it removed.
I suppose, for all I know, someone has already derived a method for doing this. Although, I imagine it could be difficult. What if what you publish now belongs to someone else? How do you force that company to remove it? I am not really sure. In either event, at least three lessons should be taken from this: Google yourself ... often, be really careful about what you put out there because it might be out there for forever - those emails that you write back and forth can be discoverable in court, and can also easily be posted to a Website, later, and if you are crafty enough, there is probably money to be made upon other people's precarious positions.
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