Online privacy has been a major issue lately with recent news of high-profile websites losing sensitive information to hackers. At the beginning of June, a Russian hacker allegedly stole more than 6.5 million encrypted passwords from professional networking site LinkedIn, and another 1.5 million passwords from online dating site eHarmony. This news undermines the point that even if individuals are taking proper steps to protect their privacy by only giving private details to sites with an "https" at the beginning of their address, there is no guarantee that these websites are taking sufficient steps to protect an individual's privacy. Therefore, individuals are advised to stay vigilant online and to continually monitor their online reputation to prevent sensitive details from making their way online.
How to Monitor
The first thing to do is to search for your name in Google. Most people do not look beyond the first page of Google search results but one should do exactly that when monitoring their own reputations. Even if a detail like your address, phone number, or a picture of you that was supposed to be private finds its way to the 5th page of search results, all it can take is one update to Google's search algorithm to bring it to the front page.
If an individual has social media accounts on sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, they can set their account up to send them e-mail updates whenever someone posts new content onto their page (Facebook), mentions them in a Tweet (Twitter), or sends a message (LinkedIn). Setting up e-mail updates will allow one to be made aware of all content that is tied back to him as soon as it is posted. This way they will have time to take down the content or un-tag themselves before Google has a chance to index it.
What to do if Information is Compromised
Often in spite of one's best efforts, private details become compromised and make their way across the web. If extreme details like credit card numbers make their way online, it is best to cancel the cards immediately. Yet when other details like phone numbers or e-mail addresses show up on the Internet, people are often more reluctant to take action thinking that there is nothing they can do. Reputable reputation management companies, however, are adept at suppressing or removing compromising information. They are able to draw upon the assistance of on-hand legal professionals to get sites to remove private details. While this is taking place, they use social media, SEO, and other techniques to push this information down the search results. Any individual wondering what private details have already been leaked online should contact a reputation management firm.
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