I recently came across an article in PC World that was somewhat shocking, yet not surprising.  With the booming success of Facebook, MySpace and other social media avenues, there is also an increasing number of People Search Engines.  Some of these search engines include Pipl or Spokeo.  While people may want some of their information viewable by the public, like these posts, one thing people tend to forget is their privacy.  They may even think their privacy settings have been set up appropriately.  People tend to post things out on the web without a second thought of what others may eventually find.

The scary thing about these “People” search engines is they can pull up quite a bit about you.  Things that you didn’t realize were out there.  I took the articles’ suggestion and did a search for myself.  Just like it said, I found my Amazon wish list, my Facebook page with a number of my friends’ smiling faces, along with things I’m a “fan” of and the blog posts that I have done.  I then tried a search using my maiden name, to see what would come up.  My maiden name is somewhat common, but I had no idea there were so many people sharing my name with court cases!  None of which were mine, but if someone wanted to dig up the so-called dirt on me…they could possibly start saying I had a lot of traffic tickets or whatever the case may be.

Search Surveillance

This leads me to my next point, let’s say someone decides to search for you just to get the dirt on you.  Hopefully there aren’t any crazies out there wanting to hunt you down or cause you ill-will.  However, these types of search engines can become potential safety hazards and increase online stalking.  Some of these search engines even charge a nominal fee to unearth those deep dark secrets you thought you posted in private.  Or possibly those juicy secrets you didn’t know you had in the event it is another person sharing your name.

You never know who may be watching you.  It’s frightening to know that these People Search Engines are technically not doing anything illegal.  Besides you are the one posting these things.   You just might not be aware that it is open to the public.  Luckily, with the privacy settings that may be hidden deep within whatever it is you are on, you can block these search engines from going any further.  Again, the only saving grace here is that you may either have a super common name or similar name that it will show search results for a variety of people.

Although it may not be that exciting to know that I have a “Nirvana” and “Jazz” radio station set up on Pandora or what I have on my wish list for Amazon, it was still out there for someone to find.  Thankfully I came across this article and after finding out all about me, I immediately went in and set these to private.  Check out these two articles by JR Raphael to help prevent what you want private from being posted to the public:

People Search Engines: “They Know Your Dark Secrets…and Tell Anyone”

People Search Engines: “Slam the Door on What Info They can Collect”

Take precautions with what you post.  Speak your mind, but be mindful of what you want people to see.  Now, what do you want people to find about YOU?