PRIVATE EYES
Yes, you wished for millions of followers, you wanted, hoped and prayed to become a social media influencer, you posted photos of yourself, your family, friends. You became an open book that has no end and then…
You became the object of a psychotic person’s desire; your information built that person’s social media fixation empire. This person could be your Ex, your right now, your next or his/her/ their right now or ex. All that matters is how much information they’ve gathered and what happens next.
Before you realize that your safety has been compromised, that person knows your address, the names of your family members, the square footage of your home, how many homes, phones and cars you own. You post that you’re going on vacation, that’s an invitation to a home invasion.
Does it get worse than that? YES, if you are trying to evade or escape an abuser, a stalker or you’ve filed for an order of protection. What do you do when your abuser Google’s YOU?
I first became aware of how unsafe we are when a coworker, whom I dubbed Nosy Nettie, came by my office to announce that a new guy had moved into the vacant office two doors down the hall.
She said he’s fine, tall, dark and very intelligent. I asked how she could tell that he was intelligent, she showed me his business card, he was a psychologist. My phone rang and she left when I took the call. Just a few minutes later, she returned so excited, OMG do you know that he has a home in one of the wealthiest areas of the county, he owns a Porsche, he was married and has a daughter and a sister, they must be twins because they’re the same age. That’s when I said, wait he told you all of that already? Girl, no, I Googled him. I was Beyond Shocked and Appalled!
It gets worse. In a former relationship, the person who went from my knight in shining armor turned devil in disguise, found the home of a relative that I had been staying with. I’d been staying there to prevent him from knowing where I was. I called the place my Safe House, that is until I sent a friend a picture of the property behind the house. She sent the picture to a friend who, unbeknownst to her, knew him. He gets the picture and shows it to one of his police officer friends who can pinpoint the location by the details provided by the camera’s location data. Voilà he found Me.
Two songs always come to mind whenever the fear of being found starts lurking around in my head, Rockwell’s, I always feel like Somebody’s Watching Me and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, No Where to Run, No Where to Hide.
So how do you protect yourself from Internet Privacy Invasion, Cyberstalking, Employment Information Violators, Dangerous and just plain Nosey People?
If you haven’t already Googled yourself, start there. Are you shocked and amazed? Are you afraid? If you don’t care, stop there.
If you are afraid, then you may want to take every step necessary to delete yourself from cyberworld.
Let’s get started:
- The extreme measure is to delete all your social media accounts OR use the privacy setting to set them to Private.
- Go through every App on your phone and thoroughly read the Privacy Policies. What access / permissions have you given them to your phone? TURN them OFF. Remember your Camera’s location information is visible to those viewing your photos unless you Don’t Allow it permission to do so.
- Go to Google Settings and remove permissions that you don’t want them to have, especially if you are being Abused and Stalked, find your Location information, TURN IT OFF!
- Go to your phone’s Setting, turn off your Location. Keep in mind, if you are fearful or just overly cautious about your safety, you may want settings for Location and Find My Phone to remain ON.
- Examine your phone thoroughly for any Suspicious Apps that just happen to be there but you didn’t download. You should also delete any Apps that aren’t wanted or necessary as they take up memory and space.
- Consider frequently changing your passwords on your phone, your email accounts and all social media accounts.
Now here’s the most challenging of all, REMOVING YOUR PERSONAL DATA FROM THE INTERNET.
There are several types of data used that expose your personal information:
Your data is extracted by Data Brokers using government data bases such as:
Motor Vehicle records
Marriage License Applications
Electoral / Voter Registration
Land / Property records
Census records
Ancestry records
Bankruptcy / Court Records
Judiciary Case Searches
Additional Information may be extracted from:
Contact information. Name, mailing address, email address, phone number, etc.
ID numbers. Social security number, passport number, driver’s license number, etc.
Online data. IP address, location data, username, browsing history, cookie ID, etc.
Ancestry/ Online health data. Race, ethnic origin, biometric data, sexual orientation, sex life, health data, etc.
Encrypted data. Personal data that’s translated into another form and that can be only read by people with access to the secret key.
Pseudonymized data. Personal data that’s been processed in such a way that it no longer can be linked to a specific person without additional information. For example, replacing a name with a reference number.
Protecting your information from getting into the wrong hands becomes increasingly problematic when businesses without Human Resource Departments file applications and personnel records in unlocked file cabinets or in unmonitored storage rooms. Files that are moved during office moves or even discarded in public trash containers are subject to exposure to people seeking to steal your identity.
Identity theft is so common because of how easy it is to obtain personal information. Scams and emails sent confirming an order or advising you that your credit card has been charged for something you didn’t order is the scammers way of getting you to call or email them to sort out the problem by having you provide your information to compare with the fake information they use to lured you into their trap.
For your protection, research diligently and contact via email or most recommended by phone the following list of the most used search engines to begin the process of deleting your online information:
Delete Me
People Finder com
MyLife.com
123 People.com
White pages
People Finder.com
US Search
Zillow
The process of deleting your personal information can be tedious, time consuming, challenging and frustrating but the rewards of protecting you and your family are well worth the effort.
SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, RAPE CRISIS, RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE, RELIGIOUS, RACE AND GENDER TARGETED INDIVIDUALS ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE WHEN IT COMES TO PERSONAL IDENTITY PROTECTION.
IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS BEING HARASSED, STALKED, SCAMMED OR THREATENED, CALL or TEXT VICTIM CONNECT Resource Center 1-855-484-2846 or 911 for IMMEDIATE DANGER/ EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
