At a point in time, you’ll need to check up information on some people. It doesn’t have to be only lost relatives, friends or acquaintance, it may be checking on a nanny, a business partner or anyone you need a bit of information on. People search engines rely on web 2.0 to dig up information from the deep web. Numerous people search engines exist using different techniques to dig up sensitive information about your inquiries. You should know that most of these people search engines are useful for finding a living person. If you are looking up information about a deceased person, you might need to take a different route.
One thing is that aside from Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, there isn’t any people search engine that will look up sensitive information for free. You may need to take a step ahead and do some findings before considering people search engines. You have an old address, visiting and asking customers around might go a long way in revealing so many information unknown to you. Currently, there are several useful resources that can help you in your search for sensitive information. You should be able to make a headway with any of the abundance of resources available on the internet and offline.
The Bad and Ugly
Despite the numerous benefits available to individuals from people search engines, there’s still this fear that lies in the heart of many people with the availability of their confidential information on the internet. The truth is that people search websites provides sensitive information that can make anyone stalk you right from their couch. The truth is that your name, phone number, marital status, current and past address, emails, and social media profiles. Some will even go a long way to include the photo of your house or the coordinates of your present location. Scary, right? Yes, it is.
People search websites rely on public records and public corporations. You don’t always read the black and white of agreeing on some websites. Have you taken time to read the terms and conditions of Social media platforms? It’s not just enough for you to think that people search websites only ensure you are not employing a felon as a nanny, or checking up on a potential employee, maybe to find owners of a lost pet. There’s much darker use of the information available on people search websites. With a fee, these people search website will reveal your information to just anyone.
Not Totally Bad: You can Still Remove Your Information From People Search Websites
As worst as people search websites might appear or have been painted to you, they are not totally bad. They still provide you with the choice of removing your sensitive information from their websites. The only shortcoming is that you can only remove it from a single database, you may need to contact the relevant government agencies to remove your information from their database. Follow these steps to remove your information from search engines also;
- Delete Yourself From Social Media, shopping and web service accounts
You may not realize it but this is where most of your sensitive information is stored. From Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, even Myspace. It doesn’t end there, you need to deactivate your account on eBay, Gap, Macy, and Amazon. Just look into the account settings and opt out.
- Remove Your Data Directly from Websites
Check with your phone company and internet service provider if they list your phone number online. Make them remove it if they do. Let’s assume you have an embarrassing blog or forum post back in the days. You will need to contact the webmaster directly in order to remove this information. However, as a private website owner, they are no under obligation to remove your data.
- Legal Request to Remove Personal Information
If you notice your personal information such as social security number or credit card number was posted on the internet by someone else. You can get it removed by sending a legal request to Google. In such a vulnerable situation, this is the best legal recourse to consider. It may take time and there’s no guarantee it will be removed.
- You can also go off-grid by deleting your email address
This should be the last step in your quest for anonymity. All other steps will require an email to be carried out, that’s why you need to do this last. In the event, your email has become public knowledge and it has led to stalking, you can deactivate your email from the account settings depending on the email provider.
What About Public Records?
Aside information you have on the internet, your sensitive information is also accessible via public records. Interestingly, it is not a crime to access public records. Public records are prepared by government officials in furtherance of official records. Public records are accessible from public records and the law guiding them vary from state to state.
Conclusion
People search engines are not totally black and bad as being painted. It may lead to vulnerability but will also protect us from danger. With a people search engine, you will know when you are going into partnership with a fraudster or hiring a serial killer as a nanny or lawn mower. People search engines are for the good even though may be used in the opposite.
